


Snakes

by Dionysus_lover



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Blood and Injury, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Death Eaters, Diagon Alley, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hogwarts, Hurt/Comfort, Knockturn Alley, Lust at First Sight, Minor Character Death, Older Man/Younger Woman, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Violence, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 52,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionysus_lover/pseuds/Dionysus_lover
Summary: A witch different from the others.A dark and powerful wizard.A destiny already written and an elusive dream, but nothing's impossible in the wizarding world.~~~Severus sat down and looked up at her. He pointed to the counter to sit on. "What's your name?""Arianna d’Este, sir.""Was this the first time he bothered you?""No, sir.""Was it the first time you hit him, in response?""Yes, sir."Severus deposited a parchment, a quill and a jar of ink. “You will write the following sentence fifty times: Next time I won't be stupid enough to get caught."~~~HBP & DH not-entirely-canon(I'm a shitty summary writer, open up and read some, maybe you'll fall in love with it!)Not English mothertongue, be gentle please.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass/Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Severus Snape/Original Character(s), Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I deeply appreciate every kudos and every comment. Please, feel free to tell what you think of this. Love you all guys, hope this will keep you company during this quarantine.

_Oh no, not me_   
_We never lost control_   
_You're face to face_   
_With the man who sold the world_

**_The man who sold the world - Nirvana (originally by David Bowie)_ **

  
It was a night like any other, a night in late August. The evening air was humid and impregnated with the smell of wrought iron and the embers of the fireplace around the Este armory, in Knocturne Alley. Ria d’Este worked tirelessly. That was her job, her family's job since the beginning of time and she had no intention of dishonoring the family name, any more than it was already dishonored. It was imperative to work. She was selling weapons, pretending not to know what their use would be, surrendering to the need to survive in that world of beasts preparing for a new, senseless war. The disappearances increased. She was a half-blood, but of noble origins. Lately psychopaths and sadists seemed justified when their victims weren't pure blood, no matter how disgusting, perverted and sick the pureboolds were. Ria knew what her fate would be if she stopped doing her job: Dolovh and Carrow would have convinced her to light the embers in her oven again in their own way. After all, in a place like Knocturne Alley, it was difficult to survive. Ria hated knowing how satisfied Bellatrix Lestrange felt in stroking the blades of her armory and buying cursed daggers and poisoned arrows, but that was Ria's job, that was her family's job, and if it wasn't for that stupid war and useless, she would have loved it immensely. There was a certain darkness in her blood, an inexplicable fascination she had felt at a young age for the dark arts and a part of her was not ashamed of it. She knew she was a powerful witch and skilled blacksmith, but in those days, she certainly couldn't have bragged about that. Ria had forged and sold too many weapons lately, all for the Death Eaters. She knew, she was aware of who her customers were. She could have decided to keep quiet, to turn her face away and pretend she never noticed anything and never read the Daily Prophet, but she couldn't. In memory of her poor Muggle mother, Ria wrote to Dumbledore and Dumbledore... well, of course, Dumbledore replied.

On that same night in late August, around four in the morning, Ria finished beating the new forged knives, cooled the blades in ice-cold water, and safely stored each of her artifacts. She let the fire doze off and put a pot of water to heat to make tea. Just then, she received the long-awaited visitor. At the back of the shop Ria heard a knock four times, as indicated in the message. The door opened. Albus Dumbledore slipped inside the oven in great secrecy, leaving the desolation of the alley behind him and looking for the woman with his eyes. Although she had been a pupil of Hogwarts, Dumbledore didn't have a vivid memory of her. In the years following the first war, Arianna d’Este had been only one of the many students of the school, she had graduated with good grades, but not excellent and then... Then she had learned nothing else. It was only when he received that alarming letter, a few days before that secret meeting, that he had deepened the story of the young woman who with such courage seemed to want to offer herself to their cause. Miss d'Este was the daughter of the only famous blacksmith in London. Mr. d’Este came from a wealthy and noble family of Italian thoroughbred wizards and for this reason his destiny was marked by pain and loss: he fell in love with a muggle. It was out of love that he revealed his world to her and it was out of love that he renounced his homeland, fleeing from his family and giving birth to a child, a pure creature, born of pure love and therefore called Arianna. Arianna d’Este, a Slytherin.

"Come, Headmaster, you are welcome in my home" Ria said in a firm and determined voice. Dumbledore advanced. Ria appeared from the shadows, illuminating the corridor. "This way" she added, pointing to a side door. They entered a small, humble sitting room, dominated by a gray stone fireplace and a large purple damask carpet with creased edges. The armchairs were well made, but the ancient fabric was blackened by the smoke from the fireplace and the mattress inside them had hardened over the years. All the furniture was carved out of stone except for a central table, covered with white lace embroidery on which the tea cups had been placed. “It's not much, but it's my home. Please take a seat, Headmaster. Can I offer you some tea? ”.

Dumbledore nodded. "Miss d’Este, I admit that your letter has somewhat unsettled me, although there was an understandable lack of details. In any case, I think a deeper explanation of the situation can help me assess the risks” Dumbledore explained.

Ria sighed and nodded. It wasn't time to linger. The young woman left her cup of tea on the coffee table and walked over to a shelf dug out of the rock and filled with books all similarly bound, thin notebooks with black covers and smoky pages. She pulled out the last of those volumes and handed it to the professor.  
“This is what I was telling you about. My registers, those supervised by the Ministry of Magic, must contain the names of all buyers, strictly of age and with an immaculate criminal record."

"Miss d'Este, here are the names of Mrs. Lestrange, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Carrow and many other individuals famous for their stay in Azkaban."

Arianna nodded. “This is why I wrote you. I cannot accept this type of trade, although it is too late to refuse. Carrow, Dolovh and Malfoy were very clear about the consequences of my refusal and my safety would otherwise be in jeopardy. That doesn't mean I can't partially undo the damage caused” she added. "This art is all my father's legacy, forging is my job and I love it, but... not like that. I am the daughter of a Muggle, yet that hasn't made me any less skilled. There is something deeply wrong with this war."

She pulled out her wand and swung it in the air before touching the mahogany table in front of her three times. The cups vanished, in front of Dumbledore the lace embroidery appeared, the fibers of which began to intertwine differently, slowly taking on the shape of a snake, the symbol of the house to which Miss d'Este belonged. The table opened as the pages of an open book and a manual with a leather cover appeared inside. “This is my family handbook. The volume that collects the secrets of my art. For generations it has remained hidden from anyone who wasn't born in the Estensi family, but I have decided that sometimes it's necessary to give up one's secrets for a just cause." Arianna looked up at Dumbledore, who was silent but bewildered by that gratuitous display of courage and loyalty. A woman who had a lot to lose, and who risked nothing but her own life, gave him such valuable information about the enemy's weapons. “There are children in your school, innocent young people who will be called to fight on both sides. They could die under the yoke of my own weapons and there is no greater dishonor than the murder of a child. These,” Ria said, pointing to the names in the register open on the Headmaster's lap “are perverts, maniacs, sadists and merciless killers. Some of them don't even believe in their ideal, but only do it out of a blind thirst for blood and pain, just to satisfy their most repugnant urges. I believe in the art of war, but this... this will be a useless bloodbath. The manual will give you guidance on how to protect yourself and how to recognize injuries. Many more lives can be saved."

Dumbledore frowned and nodded, trying to find the right words, but was amazed at his own silence. There was only one solution to that doubt, to all those questions that weren't answered and to the fear of the unknown that could only be discovered in the pages of that immense volume in his hands.

"Miss d’Este" Dumbledore said, getting up from the armchair in the living room and walking towards the exit "I'm afraid I don't have qualified teachers to pass on these important teachings to my students and an art like yours deserves to be handed down. For this reason Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be proud to host a specific course and host you as a new teacher. We will work out the details in the next few days and for the rest, know that you will be given time to continue to manage your oven independently without arousing suspicion. Goodbye, Miss d'Este."

Ria nodded and watched the Headmaster leave her shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianna arrives at Hogwarts and captures the curiosity of students and teachers. Severus is surprised at how different his memory of her is from current reality.

_Bloodwitch_  
_Make me itch_  
_Make me come_  
_Alive_  
_From the dead_  
_Come to say_  
_Say my name_

**_Bloody Witch - Bloodwitch (From "I'm not ok with this")_ **

  
  
_September 1st, 1996_

"And finally, we welcome Miss Arianna d'Este, who from this year will hold an optional course in magical weapons and armor, for students from the third year onwards" Dumbledore announced.  
Arianna stood up, nodding to the bored students, who applauded timidly. She smiled at the Headmaster and the teachers who looked at her and sat down again. She didn't notice the curious looks she was catching.

"Looks like the female version of Snape" Ronald commented from the Gryffindor table, raising some general laughter. The green velvet coat, crossed by silver buttons from the extreme hem to the left shoulder, actually resembled that of the potions teacher. "They would make a nice couple."

"No Ron, haven't you seen her? She smiled. And in any case, Snape won't last long. As far as I'm concerned, I hope he goes the same way as Lockhart."

Hermione shook herself and hid the shivers. She would have preferred to bury certain memories forever. “You think this course has something to do with you know who? You know... Hogwarts has never bothered to teach the art of war and weapons. Maybe we should start worrying." The two friends didn't add anything, but they had learned to listen to their insightful friend and, although Harry had already received from Dumbledore the mission to win Slughorn's trust, all three knew that they needed necessarily find out more about the new teacher.

The three friends weren't the only ones who felt intrigued about the school's new recruit. Severus Snape was somewhat surprised to see, after all these years, the young woman who had been a student of his, many years ago, when he had just become a potions teacher. He remembered each of his Slytherins, although he didn't dare to show how significant the students belonging to his house were to him. Arianna d’Este had been a shy and not too pretty, little girl. She had frizzy brown hair that was impossible to comb, her face was getting covered with small red pimples, and she wore metal braces, something that was almost unknown among the Slytherins, as there were few half-blood children among them. She read all the time, during all breaks from class and when she completed her homework before the other students, Severus was grateful that she didn't feel the annoying urge to meddle with her peers' homework. She kept quiet, mostly, and he appreciated it immensely. The woman he now saw in front of him had nothing to do with that child, at least in appearance.

The teachers, as usual, met after dinner in the principal's office, where they exchanged occasional gossip and calm greetings. Severus usually never attended, but he found himself suddenly intrigued. So much so that he forgot, for a second, all the new pain he would have to face that year. Arianna had pulled her coat off her shoulders and was holding it hanging from one arm. Beneath it a simple black dress fell just above the knee, partially uncovering that pair of long, young legs wrapped in emerald green tights. The shoulders of the dress were a little wider and left a few centimeters of skin uncovered, on which the silky brown hair in wavy locks lay. She was chatting with Professor Slughorn, who had immediately expressed his interest in the young woman and her unusual profession. She smiled, nodded, but with reserve and detachment. Then she looked up at him. Dark eyes, but animated by a golden flame hidden in some hidden depth of her soul, rosy and fleshy lips, cheeks... Oh for God's sake! Okay, he wasn't a saint, of course. And most likely that would have been more or less his last year of life, so he wouldn't mind a fuck here or there, but would he start fantasizing about one of his students..! Well, not that she was a student anymore, she was obviously a woman and what a woman... NO! Thoughts confused him to the point that he didn't notice she was finally getting close to him.

"Professor Snape" she whispered with a nod of her head and an all-too-happy smile on her lips. He didn't answer, didn't get upset and nodded in greeting. Better to say nothing when you aren't at all sure what to say. "It appears that I have been granted the honor of adding a third Slytherin to the faculty. A den of snakes, I dare say. In any case, I wanted to congratulate you, you will be an outstanding Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Flattery has never been fruitful towards me, Miss d'Este" Snape commented as he swallowed another sip of Fire Whiskey.

She nodded. "I'll remember that when I have to ask you a favor, or when I intend to seduce you." The whiskey went sideways and Severus coughed on his glass, visibly blushing. Arianna smiled, but made no further comment and quickly changed the subject before causing further discomfort. “A lovely evening, really, although I would love to go to bed now. Is there the possibility of leaving this sentimental meeting place undisturbed?"  
"Already eager to leave us, Miss d'Este? Why, professor, the teaching year has not yet begun..."

"Oh, I can't wait to teach centuries of manufacturing art to a handful of hormone-blast students... but I suppose it's necessary. We don't want them to get hurt too much, do we?" Ria smiled, Severus raised an eyebrow and looked at her more and more surprised and vaguely intrigued. There was something different about her, a frustrated and contrite look that can rarely be seen on the face of someone who, at a young age, is lucky enough to be kissed by such rare beauty. And she was, so beautiful. "Good night, Professor Snape."

"Severus" he stated, catching Arianna off guard. She smiled. "I am no longer your professor, nor are you a student of mine, however I intend to emphasize and specify that this makes us nothing more than colleagues." His voice was detached, but deep. His face was impenetrable, but there was no bitter acidity in his gaze, only a cautious distrust.  
Ria nodded. "Then I'll be Ria, just Ria."

He nodded. He was convinced he hadn't been watching her hips sway like a siren's as she left the room. Snape finished his glass of whiskey in a single gulp, said goodbye to his colleagues, and left the company. It no longer made sense to stay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year begins and Severus continues to have some doubts about Arianna. Better to investigate, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parosmia = alteration of smell characterized by the onset of false odorous perceptions. It can be hallucinatory if it occurs in the absence of any odorous sensorineural excitement.

_'Cause I've done some things that I can't speak_  
_And I've tried to wash you away, but you just won't leave_  
_So won't you take a breath and dive in deep?_  
_'Cause I came here so you'd come for me_

**_Haunting - Halsey_ **

_September 2nd, 1996_

The classroom for the magic armor and weapons class bordered perfectly with the potions classroom, in the basement of the castle, but unlike Professor Slughorn's, who had kept its annoying humidity and was impregnated with the fumes of potions and the unpleasant smells of the ingredients, hers was heated by the crackling fire of the fireplace. Ria was used to the heat that the fire radiated almost directly to her bare skin during the hard night hours. It was a reassuring feeling and even her sixth-year students seemed to like it when they entered the classroom. Each took his place and Ria began to study them in silence. Only one girl had taken the course, and Arianna was sure it wasn't entirely her choice. Absolute silence reigned in the classroom, probably due to the inexplicable curiosity that had pushed those boys into her class and the mystery that hovered around her, a perfect stranger in the world of magic, at least apparently.

"I'm glad to see that at least one girl has decided to attend my course" Arianna commented, carefully observing the young woman with the frizzy and curly hair. Hermione blushed, the whole class turned to her. “I am talking. If you are unable to pay attention, leave this room now. This is not a course for children: Professor Snape will teach you how to defend yourself from dark magic, I will teach you how to cure yourself of it. The instrument you bought from Ollivander years ago doesn't allow you to be invincible. There are far more deadly tools on the market. As wizards and witches, you underestimate close combat and classic weapons, but I assure you that you will change your mind at the end of my course. I will teach you how to classify weapons, how to recognize them and how to protect yourself from them, so I will have to give you practical demonstrations and provide you with clear and explicit images. This is not a course for pussies."

A whispered but explicit laugh rose from the third row. Gregory Goyle had the audacity to comment: "Well then maybe you shouldn't teach it!". A handful of Slytherins giggled like hyenas, but Ria silenced them immediately.

“Ten points from Slytherin for insulting a teacher! I do not discount anyone and above all I expect impeccable conduct from students belonging to my own house! These cheap jokes are embarrassing and we don't want your pureblood families to be ashamed of their idiotic children, do we, Mr. Goyle?" The class fell silent and Arianna began her lesson.

Ria concluded the lesson, the last of her day. The students left the classroom one after the other under the watchful eye of the teacher. "Miss Granger" she said, stopping the student, "what lesson do you have to take now?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, miss."

Arianna nodded and, moved by a nostalgic feeling that she did not want to admit she felt, she left the classroom and joined Professor Snape's.

Ria's was an unusual gift, a very rare and enviable genetic trait, which she had never revealed to anyone. Magic, for her, wasn't just an effect of her family heritage, an innate ability or the mere consequence of the wand in her hand. The magic had its scent. Just as Amortentia has its specific aroma, so Arianna could smell every potion, every spell, every magical being. There were pure magic, such as the patrono evocation, which had a hint of heaven, of powdered sugar and sun, of crystalline water and just ripe fruit. There were dark magic that had the acrid smell of sulfur, dust, entrails of animals. At Hogwarts, studying for her had sometimes been frustrating. She had chosen all purely theoretical subjects, to avoid being constantly bombarded by unique and different scents, but it was complicated. Some of the Slytherins smelled the most despicable: lowly beings with evil hearts, she could recognize them. Some didn't have any specific odors. Some still smelled of fresh grass and dew, especially the younger and most naive, and it was their innate goodness that saved them. And then there was Professor Severus Snape. A perfect blend of black and white: his magic had the smell of dark chocolate, tobacco and brandy. Then Arianna had grown up, puberty had invested her in all its strength, unleashing a storm of hormones in her body, swelling her dry hips and flat breasts, enhancing every smell. Severus Snape was sin itself. Each of his spells screamed only _sex_. Ria had appeased her sexual appetites with furious and frequent masturbation, at least until her father decided to start teaching her everything he knew about the art of forging. Arianna soon discovered that the fire soothed all scents and she found relief. However, the temptation had been too much… the previous evening she had had to run away; sure, she had tried to get close again and if she had to be honest, she would have admitted to herself that she wanted to find out if that smell was still there. That smell was stronger than ever. Ria had grown up, she was no longer a teenager and despite this Snape always had that hint of lust, deep and impenetrable. She couldn't resist and at the same time she couldn't help it.

~~~

“Better not make that woman angry, I know her. She is the owner of the knives shop in Knokctrune Alley, my aunt says she makes them, one by one… I wonder why Dumbledore was so stupid to hire her" Draco commented softly, taking his seat next to Pansy Parkison. The Slytherin girl listened attentively while he told her what had happened during the lesson and she wasn't the only one. Snape began to assemble the pieces of the mosaic: the girl looked familiar not only from her days at Hogwarts. Perhaps this was why he had felt so intrigued, that surname had no foreign sound and now he knew why. The streets of Knokcturne Alley weren't unfamiliar to him and the shop was quite renowned. The only one in England, the only one who dealt with weapons at the limits of legality. It was the only one who served the Death Eaters under the counter. He had found himself casually admiring the refinement of the weapons displayed in the armory. But why had Dumbledore wanted the girl to teach at Hogwarts? Dumbledore had never made such a mistake, unless Arianna d’Este was an excellent occlumant, like him, which couldn't be completely ruled out. Severus continued his lesson incessantly. The hour ended quickly, fortunately. It was time for lunch and in the afternoon, courtesy of the principal, he wouldn't have to deal with supervising students during study hours. He put his wand back in his pocket and collected his lecture notes, until he sensed someone waiting in the doorway of his classroom. He turned. Arianna was there and smiled at him imperceptibly.

"Good morning, Miss d'Este. Do you need something?"

Ria shook her head and walked among the pews. She sat down and looked up at him; for a moment Severus had the impression that she was sniffing the air around her, but the thought was so absurd that it pushed him away from his mind.

“I came to browse. I wanted to find out if you were a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher as strict as you have been in Potions."

Severus held back a smirk and turned his back to her again. "And what is your conclusion, Miss d'Este?"

" _Ria._ And my conclusion is that you look better out of that dungeon..." Ria stood up, swayed her delicious hips towards the door. "I'll see you."

He decided to stop her. “Ria, would you be interested in sharing a glass of whiskey after dinner? Tonight, maybe?" _Is she blushing? Seems to me she's blushing… faster breathing, shy smile… if I didn't know it better..._ Severus raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. It would have been a perfect opportunity to understand more of that young woman, especially since he had the feeling that, if Dumbledore hadn't told him about her until then, he probably wouldn't have agreed to do it even now.

Ria nodded. “Very gladly, Severus. Good day."

Despite his suspicions, Severus couldn't help but drop his gaze on that magnificent rear.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus and Arianna spend a not-entirely-pleasant evening: he tries to deceive her, but she isn't naive.

_I like it when you take control_   
_Even if you know that you don't_   
_Own me, I'll let you play the role_

**_Bad guy - Billie Eilish_ **

Arianna knocked on Severus' door on time, at half past eight. He invited her to enter without adding a word and observed her. She had left her hair untied and must have combed it for a long time, because there wasn't a single tuft out of place and every single hair shone in the faint light of the candles. She had chosen to wear a simple but soft dress that fell gently along the curves of her body and wore no stockings, but a long cardigan untied on the front, which kept her warm but evidently allowed her to discover some flesh on the legs. _She got dressed for the night. She took my invitation very seriously…_ He watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply. _Why does she keep sniffing? What do you find so interesting about the smells of this school?_ Ria sat down on a chair in her living room and brought it closer to the fire. She looked around: the living room wasn't large, but it was extremely homey. The colors were neutral: the stone walls were covered with elaborate tapestries depicting the four founders and in front of them low shelves held a large amount of books, while at the far end of the room was a corner dominated by the fireplace, flanked by the drinks cabinet. Above the fireplace, the wall was dominated by a high window, from which she could see the stars in the sky of Scotland.

"A wonderful evening" Ria whispered and turned her gaze to Severus. "Thanks for the invite."

"Indeed. My pleasure. Would you like something to drink? Fire Whiskey?"

Severus walked to the drinks cabinet, behind the young guest. She thanked and nodded and he filled a glass; Severus slid a single drop of veritaserum into the whiskey. A single drop might not have pulled the whole truth out of the girl's mouth, but it sure would have loosened her tongue just enough. With a sly smile he served the whiskey to his guest and sat across from her in the nearest chair, raising his glass in a toast.

"To the Slytherins" he whispered.

"To this den of snakes" she laughed and brought the glass to her mouth. The distant scent of the potion flooded his nostrils and Ria was baffled for a moment. Like any potion, despite the fact that veritaserum had no smell for everyone else, that concoction had a distinct snake-like odor. Severus watched Arianna bring the glass to her face and then immediately wrinkle her nose, as if she could smell some kind of smell inside it. The professor didn't want to assume that he had made a mistake, he believed in the naivety of the woman, although it seemed rather strange to him. A woman who works at night, around a furnace fire, beating iron and creating magical and deadly weapons, couldn't be alien to the smell of whiskey.

Ria lowered her glass. “Do you consider me a liar because of my profession? Or is it for my membership in the Slytherin house? Because in the first case I can understand it, in the second... well, it's pretty bold of you to assume that a Slytherin is capable of so much lying, isn't it? Severus Tobias Snape, repentant Death Eater in the service of Albus Dumbledore. I could start thinking that you are a liar too and get your whiskey drugged."  
Severus didn't speak, nor did he move. How could she have picked up that single drop of potion? And by what right did she address him in those terms? Little disrespectful, irreverent and...  
"Fortunately" she continued to speak, interrupting his thoughts "I have nothing to hide." Ria drank the whiskey in one gulp and smiled. "Ask me."

Severus raised an eyebrow, more and more impressed by the singular creature in front of him. A woman certainly of enviable and reckless strength, but smart. Skillful. Sincere in the cruellest way, since she knew how to belittle his opponents with her deadly honesty. He put down his glass and just asked: "How?"

Arianna laughed and nodded, but that laugh sounded like a mockery, as if she rejoiced in having just exposed his ignorance. “I suffer from a condition called parosmia. In Muggles, parosmia is a disturbance of smell and concerns the change in the perception of normal smells. For them it implies the possibility of perceiving daily smells in a distorted or unpleasant way. My mother suffered from it. She passed it on to me, but I'm a witch, so I can smell the magic. Only fire quenches the scent of magic around me."

Severus pretended not to be impressed by that anomaly, but he knew it could be useful in the future. He focused on a small detail that intrigued him. "Are you a half-blood?"

"Yes."

"But your father is a pureblood, a noble craftsman."

"Indeed."

"Is it a senseless sense of humility to push you to teaching or the need to find an heir to your art?" Severus commented harshly, vaguely annoyed by the dry bluntness of the woman in front of him.

"Listen, Severus, I make weapons, there's a war going on out there. I work, I need it. Nothing personal, but I am a single, young woman with a noble heritage despite my stained blood and I have to protect myself from the Ministry of Magic. I want to avoid being given in marriage as a damned prize, to a damned retrograde idiot capable of depriving me of my art. For this I need money. Only with those can I pay for my freedom. What's more… during a war you have to know how to ensure survival on both fronts."

There's more. Severus had this stinging sensation. Arianna wasn't lying, not really. She had been telling the truth, but in the wrong way. There were other reasons that pushed her towards that road, towards Hogwarts and, perhaps, towards him as well. This wasn't the time to ask further: she would be indignant, she would run away, he would lose every opportunity to extort the truth pure and simple. "I'd like to know more about your condition and your… art."

Ria nodded. "Arianna d’Este, at your service."

Severus lost his temper. His calm tone became urgent and pungent. He leaned into the chair and glared at her, gritting his teeth as he spoke. "Why are you so condescending?"

Ria mimicked his position, as if she wanted to put him in front of a mirror. “I have nothing to fear, Professor Snape. Can you say the same?"

The echo of his own words rang in his ears as a sign of destiny. What would that diabolical woman have been able to eradicate from that tongue? Yet she didn't give the impression of questioning his integrity, it was rather a kind of challenge. _Let's see how far I can lift my head higher than yours now that I'm no longer a child._ Arianna smiled, but not out of malice. “You can attend my class every Monday. Sixth grade students are dismissed from my class just before yours. It will be an honor to teach my professor."  
Severus said nothing, but he would accept. He wanted to know more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the weekend Arianna visits Hogsmeade and reunites with unlikely friends. An unexpected encounter with Slughorn brings to light Severus' memories of the now young teacher.

_You were the only red flag_   
_The only red flag that I could never raise_

**_Red Flag - The Moth & The Flame_ **

_September 7th, 1996_

That weekend Ria decided to walk to Hogsmead. She was the only Hogwarts teacher to be relieved of her weekday commitments due to her first job at Knokcturne Alley. The trip with the Floo Powder allowed her to reach the oven very easily, therefore, being able to devote time to her personal interests, she decided to reach the Scottish town near Hogwarts. She had just bought some new volumes when it started raining. Scotland's unpredictable weather varied from day to day, and that unexpected rain wouldn't have been so unpleasant if she hadn't had those books with her. She entered the Three Broomsticks and sat in the first vacant seat.

"Look there, the wind brought a surprise!"

" _Rain_ you mean, my dear brother!"

Ria looked up to her right. She rolled her eyes and then smiled. “Ah! The Weasley twins! " she exclaimed, reaching out to Fred and George, squeezing theirs warmly. After all, they were neighbors in business. "Please make yourselves comfortable." The three ordered drinks. “How's the shop doing? Always good, I hope."

“Great! After all, we are the only ones on the market!" George stated firmly.

“And we are the youngest entrepreneurs in Diagon Alley. You should know, you've also read the newspaper."

Arianna nodded. "Don't remind me, Fred Weasley, if it weren't for you I would still have primacy!"

“As well as being Knockturne Alley's most disturbing shop and London's most glamorous craftsman” Fred commented again.

Arianna laughed heartily. "Good job, an insult and a compliment in the same sentence. How can I get mad at you guys?"

It was just then that Harry, Hermione, and Ron also entered the inn. The boy cautiously approached his brothers, wearing a bewildered and confused expression. "Professor d'Este, Fred, George..." he whispered greeting the strange company.

"Professor? Since when?" George asked with a large question mark on his forehead.

“Guys, sit down. I'm not a teacher, outside of school" Ria said, drawing three other chairs closer.

"Miss d'Este teaches a course in magical weapons and armor at Hogwarts this year. How do you know each other?" Hermione answered the boy and asked immediately.

Arianna sighed. “I was more or less the first loyal customer of the Weasleys' shop. I love their chewing gum. I run a manufacturing art business in Knokcturne Alley. Dumbledore asked me to teach a class at Hogwarts, to teach students how to protect themselves from magical weapons. In the last year, sales have increased." Harry frowned. Hermione shivered visibly. Ron turned pale. Everyone understood what she was referring to. Ria took a deep breath before starting to speak again. “ _Legally_ the Ministry shouldn't allow some of my sales, but the Ministry is corrupt, as you know. After all, they had the guts to hire Dolores Humbridge." Everyone smiled at that comment. Fred and George exchanged a wink. “These aren't things I should talk to you kids about, anyway. Be careful” Ria commented, getting up from her chair and leaving her seat after finishing the butterbeer. She greeted Madame Rosmerta and headed for the exit.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Ron commented, exchanging a meaningful glance with the other boys.

"Dumbledore trusted her enough" Hermione stated.

"Dumbledore trusts Snape too" Harry insisted, then sighed. "We should talk to Remus about it."

Ria left the inn despite the rain. It was getting late, she had to go home and wanted to avoid divulging too much information without being sure it was safe from prying eyes and ears. The rain was still too intense to appart and Ria didn't have a broom, so she decided to go to the Hog's Head Inn and look for a chimney to travel through. When she arrived she was wet from head to toe, like a chick lost in bad weather. She shook the rain off her and took off her cloak soaked in water, snorting. Only later, when she had moved her damp and frizzy hair from her face, did she notice the two professors sitting a little further away: Professor Slughorn had a compassionate look, while Severus obviously smiled at her with meanness, probably laughing at her condition. Arianna smiled without being intimidated. She walked over to the table and greeted the professors with a nod of her head.

"Miss d’Este, we were just talking about you!" Horace stated with a joyful smile. Ria smiled, letting her gaze wander towards Severus, who lowered his own on his glass, avoiding meeting the bright eyes of the young woman who had intoxicated his hidden fantasies. "I'm very interested in your occupation, it must be challenging!" Slughorn continued.

“Actually… that's exactly why I'm going back to my furnace right now. There are no days off for a craftsman." She started to walk away when the potions teacher stopped her again.

“Ah! Miss d’Este, I was telling Severus just now that I would like to invite you both to my club. A small meeting of friends, nothing special! Would you like it?"

Ria smiled and nodded. "I'll be glad to accompany Professor Snape to his hangout, Professor Slughorn." Arianna winked at him, Severus winced in silence and wondered why every possible torment had decided to reach him in that cursed year. He watched the witch walk away towards the fireplace, before returning to her hot whiskey.

“A lovely girl, really. A real shame she wasn't a student of mine" Slughorn commented "but I'm glad to know she was such a faithful student that she wished to accompany you, Severus, don't you think?"

Severus grunted in asserting the question, vaguely pretending not to be interested. Past memories slowly resurfaced, of those years just following the greatest tragedy of his life.

~~~

Severus was twenty-one, yet he had never felt older. He was exhausted, depressed, he hated his job, he hated Hogwarts, he hated himself. Those were sensations that would hardly ever leave him and he was aware of them. He would drag himself tiredly through the corridors at the end of his lessons, and he avoided his colleagues as one avoids the plague. Likewise, he wanted to keep the students away from himself. Fuck the Slytherins, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and even those damned Hufflepuffs. Fuck everyone!  
One day in November, 1981, he had to face his responsibilities as a professor. In the corridor just outside the basement someone had started a fight. Damned dunderheads he remembered thinking. He had quickened his pace, had reached the fight ring. A boy, a third year Gryffindor, lay on the ground with his nose covered in blood. A little girl, a first year Slytherin, had looked up at him, with an innate pride, and stretched out a finger towards the boy lying accusingly.

“He made fun of me, called me a ragamuffin. I beat him" she had said without the slightest fear of the consequences. Severus had looked at her more closely. The uniform fitted her perfectly, but the shoes... the shoes were old, the soles were worn and the socks were mended. The books that the girl had at her feet were worn, superficially bound. She was thin, but tall for her age. A rush of anger had stirred inside him, the same anger that years before… my God. He had always hated feeling sympathetic towards anyone who wasn't him, after all no one had been sympathetic towards him, but that little girl had reminded him of his childhood and he couldn't ignore it.

“Fifteen points from Gryffindor, for insulting a student! And punishment, for both of you. You, report to Mr. Filch immediately and you, miss, with me now” he had hissed. The girl had followed him into the potions room and remained standing in front of the desk. Severus had sat down and looked up at her. He had pointed to the counter to sit on. "What's your name?"

"Arianna d’Este, sir."

"Was this the first time he bothered you?"

"No, sir."

"Was it the first time you hit him, in response?"

"Yes, sir."

Severus had deposited a parchment, a quill and a jar of ink. “You will write the following sentence fifty times: _next time I won't be stupid enough to get caught_." She had smiled and filled the parchment in ten minutes. He had kicked her out of the classroom immediately afterwards, but as soon as the door closed behind her, he had smiled, folded the parchment and put it in the pocket of his cloak. Arianna d’Este had never received a single punishment again, but in his class there was regularly a Gryffindor with black eyes and a broken nose. Severus smiled every time, secretly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianna's lesson finally highlights the professor's loyalty to Severus. Draco is not thrilled.

_If you want it, here it is come and get it_   
_Make your mind up fast_   
_If you want it, anytime, I can give it_   
_But you better hurry 'cause it may not last_

**_Come and get it - Hollywood Vampires (originally by The Beatles)_ **

_September 9, 1996_

“Well, welcome back guys. Take your seat."  
Ria watched her students sit down, one by one. With a furtive glance she greeted Ronald Weasley more kindly, then looked up at the entire class.  
"So, there is a person who seems to have been particularly interested in my subject. I want to clarify that I want you to treat him with respect, but without allowing this to stop you from intervening during the lesson. My questions require answers, in any case. Without further ado, we welcome Professor Snape."  
The whole class jumped and stiffened. The professor entered in extreme silence, greeting Arianna with a nod of the head and avoiding the bewildered glances of his students.  
"Please, professor, take your seat." Arianna pointed to an empty counter in the back row. Severus gave her a warning look. She smiled. He wondered why he had never managed to intimidate her, despite his best efforts. “In the last lesson we classified the various types of weapons, from melee to those useful for ranged combat. Now we are going to find out how this kind of weapon is manufactured. First of all, what are the key ingredients for forging a magical weapon?"

Everyone fell silent, Hermione Granger raised her hand. Arianna motioned for her to lower it.  
Eventually Blaise Zabini broke the silence. "Magic?" he said, mockingly. The class laughed.

“Oh, funny Zabini. Did you have to think about it or does it come naturally to you to be so desperately immature? Somebody else?" Ria looked up again. Hermione raised her hand again. “Belby. You, yes. Marcus Belby, you are a Ravenclaw. Tell me something clever."

The boy cleared his throat. "Well, Muggles use basic techniques, they heat and forge metal using a furnace."

"Precisely. This is the periodic table of the elements. For those who have not taken an alchemy course, I strongly suggest that you retrieve this fundamental document. The elements you see marked in green are metals. Which of these do we use? Any idea?"

Vincent Crabbe raised his hand. Severus was visibly surprised. Ria smiled and gave him the floor. "Not copper, Miss Este, nor iron. The first is too fragile, the second oxidizes if exposed for a long time." The boy blushed visibly when Malfoy gave him a bewildered and slightly disgusted look, but Ria nodded with satisfaction.

"Ten points to Slytherin, great job Mr. Crabbe." Arianna tried to resume the lesson, but Hermione had no intention of lowering her hand. She sighed. “Miss Granger, I only let you speak because I don't want you to interrupt my lesson again and whatever it is that you mean, I won't award you points. Speak up” Ria stated firmly and Severus smiled pleased. The lesson was turning out to be extremely interesting.

Hermione spoke: "The most used metal is silver, due to its high magical properties, although it is very expensive. Chromed steel is used instead, which absorbs the magic very easily."

Arianna nodded in exasperation. She tried to turn back to the blackboard when Severus cleared his throat. Ria looked at him. "Do you want to add something, professor?" she asked, the whole class waiting anxiously.

"What about mercury?"

Hermione couldn't hold back her laughter. Arianna glared at the girl and she fell silent. "Professor Snape made a very clever observation, Miss Granger. I advise you not to underestimate your teachers. Five points from Gryffindor for this disrespect. Anyway" Arianna look directly at Severus "mercury is a liquid metal. In nature it seems impossible to solidify, but we are magicians so... it is said that it is exploitable, it is said that it is possible to forge weapons in mercury, but this requires dark magical abilities of extreme skill and precision, since it seems that it is only possible to forge it in ardemonium. This would make the weapons extremely dangerous and chaotic. Unfortunately, since I am not a witch of such dark ability, I cannot confirm all this." Severus thanked the professor, declared war on Granger with a single glance, and then the lesson continued.

An hour later Arianna stopped Hermione before the girl could leave the classroom. “Hermione I'm sorry I have to be so strict, but your need for approval prevents others from intervening. Your peers tend to feel intimidated by you and I want all of my students to be equally prepared. As for your laugh... I didn't like it. Professor Snape is an extremely cultured and intelligent man. I suggest you take his words more into consideration, despite his tendency to be particularly stern, above all towards the most prepared students."  
Hermione nodded at the professor's words and Ria hadn't noticed that, a little further on, Severus himself was eavesdropping on the conversation. Arianna was such a... unexpected woman. She wasn't flattering him, nor was she belittling him. She didn't blindly praise his qualities, but seemed to describe him with a frightening objectivity, as if she were totally sincere, completely convinced of those words. She considered him cultured and intelligent. In her eyes shone a light, an ardor, an admiration... He shook his head. She was just a young woman, a young, good teacher. Hermione walked away and he walked over.

Arianna smiled. "Can I assume that you were satisfied with the lesson?"

“Indeed” he commented, apparently detached, “I am. You are undoubtedly a trained teacher." _Is she blushing? That's a... I embarrassed her. Gods. It's my fault. Why am I always saying the wrong thing?_ But Arianna smiled again, moved a lock of hair uncovering a pink cheek and Severus evidently noticed the blush on her.

“Thank you Severus, I can't deny I feel flattered” before Severus could turn away, she added “would you be interested in sharing a glass of whiskey after dinner? Tonight, maybe?"

Severus smiled at those words, recognizing them. He nodded. Arianna smiled again.

~~~

Not even among the Slytherins Miss d'Este had gone unnoticed. Malfoy commented skeptically on his involvement in teaching at Hogwarts. “My aunt knows her,” he said, confiding in Goyle, “let's just say she likes the shop. It is right in front of Magie Sinister. It seems to me just a meddler". The friend had not commented, but the feeling inside Draco was increasingly intrusive and annoying. The burden on his shoulders was enormous, his family's mistakes had been assigned to him to ward off and he was afraid. He hadn't had any choice. It was frustrating. What's more, Snape pestered him, watched him closely and Draco knew he didn't have to make mistakes. Somehow the professor's protection only further distressed him. If Professor d'Este could be useful for anything, surely she could distract Severus as much as necessary. Or at least, Draco hoped she would play in his favor. Soon he would have to open the vanishing cabinet and by spring his mission should have been completed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friendship between Arianna and Severus starts to grow, even with the approval of an old friend. Severus is still frightened by the consequences of that friendship and is unaware of Arianna's feelings.

_If it's not forever, if it's just tonight_   
_Oh, it's still the greatest, the greatest, the greatest_   
_You, your sex is on fire_

**_Sex on fire - Kings of Leon_ **

_October 2, 1996_

"Checkmate" Severus stated with a pleased smile on his thin lips. She shook her head and raised her arms in surrender.

"It is **not** possible. You've been winning all week! You're cheating, I'm sure..."

"Give up Ria, you still have a lot to learn."

She nodded and smiled. Of course she still had a lot to learn, she certainly couldn't be compared to him. In the last month they had discovered that they had interests in common. It had been slow and timid. Severus followed Ria's lectures carefully, and if he previously harbored gruesome doubts and assumptions about the young woman's ultimate goals, he was now genuinely interested in her art. So much so that he had begun to ask her more specific questions, in private and she had started talking, a little more every day. Ria handled the dark arts with some dexterity and, despite the wrong nature of it all, he couldn't help but be fascinated. Their speech ended up touching on that personal and unique subject that was Ria's parosmia.

"Does dark magic smell different than purer and... innocent magic?" Severus had asked one evening, nonchalantly, but hiding a deep curiosity. Arianna had sighed deeply and had decided to answer. Severus sensed the hesitation in her thoughts, but Ria had no intention of lying to him. She had never done this and he respected her for her loyalty.

"Yes, dark magic can have an unpleasant scent, but it depends... I don't dare imagine what the unforgiving curses can smell, even if I'm afraid I have an idea." Ria thought of her dark customers. The oven had never stopped working and now the shop was only open on weekends, where its sales were concentrated. "I had the displeasure of meeting rather disgusting characters in the shop, but I had to live too after all. Nobody wants to starve..."

Severus nodded understandingly. He knew what it meant to be hungry and have nothing to eat. "Death Eaters?" he asked, taking another sip of tea. Ria nodded. "Madame Lestrange?"

Ria burst out laughing. "She smells like shit." Severus laughed as he hadn't laughed in a long time.

Then, one evening after that private conversation, he noticed that Arianna always chose the chair closest to the fire and, if it wasn't close enough to the fireplace, she would have moved it. She walked away from him. Severus began to wonder about the reason for that prudent distance and then remembered... and for a moment he had the feeling that something had broken in their friendship. She approached the fire because the heat soothed the scents. He probably stank of the lowest and most rotten thing that must have existed in the whole world. Of course, why on earth should I be even remotely tolerable? He had distanced himself from her, he had decided that it wasn't worth spending precious time of his days with someone who suffered at his proximity, but she had a bad habit of nagging him, of returning every time. Until, a few nights before, she showed up at his door with a chessboard and convinced him to play. Silly girl, he thought, knowing he could always win.

“What's your secret? How can you always anticipate my moves?" Ria exclaimed, bringing him back to reality.

"Magic" Severus joked. _I'm telling jokes, me, Severus Snape. I'm definitely going crazy, Merlin help me_. Ria smiled. Severus got up from his chair, walked over to the shelf behind the girl.

Arianna took a deep breath and moaned.  
Severus was the most powerful of the aphrodisiacs. Ria was completely captured by that ever more intense fragrance, ever sweeter and which attracted her more and more like a moth attracted to the light. Since they had begun to weave that singular friendship, Arianna felt that a small light was now illuminating her days. For a long time she had hidden in her furnace, preventing the world from penetrating her everyday life, and now that she had decided to get out of her "aquarium", so to speak, she felt she had found something worth saving the world for. A friendship, someone for whom to feel sincere affection and deep admiration. Someone who probably would never have considered her otherwise... She was just happy to have someone in her life. Severus was discreet, reserved, mostly taciturn and surly, although Ria appreciated his keen intelligence, his dedication to detail and his enormous culture. Yet when he approached... When Severus was so close it was difficult to hide the excitement he unleashed in her. Her sex burned when he approached, his masculine, intense and passionate scent was getting stronger and more intoxicating. It was too strong not to be savored whenever she had the opportunity.

Severus was furious, at first. He felt laughed at. When was he never laughed at? All his life he had been the laughing stock of the whole world, why would she have behaved differently? What was she trying to get from him? Then he looked back at her. _Thighs crossed, tight and taut like violin strings. Inhale deeply. Doesn't cover her nose or face. Breathe faster. Blushes. Gods... what if...?_ Severus felt suddenly embarrassed. He prevented himself from using legilimacy on her, it wouldn't be respectful, not towards a confused young woman like her. There was something very wrong with Arianna if she really felt that inexplicable physical attraction towards him. “It's getting late, Ria. I'll walk you to the door” he said and avoided looking at her. He had no intention of feeling guilty about the stupid, useless crush of a stupid little girl.

Arianna said nothing, stood up without protest. When they reached the door she looked up, with her usual innocent smile. Why on earth would a Slytherin look so harmless? Severus couldn't rest, he was nervous, stressed, irritated. His skin was shivering, yet the fireplace was on and… gods, it was a completely unpleasant situation. When Arianna tried to put her hand close to his, as she wished him good night, he suddenly drew back. He practically fled from her touch. Severus folded his arms across his chest and looked at her with a look partly disgusted, partly frightened by that recklessness. No one had dared to touch him for years. Ria was deeply ashamed. Without saying anything else, she left the room.

~~~

At Spinner's End there was a park. It was a mostly disgusting park, an expanse of mud and dry grass, but from time to time and especially in spring, a few flowers bloomed along the sidewalk and even the trees looked greener and full of life. Severus could smell the scent of white daisies, just born and fresh, even as he too had been as a child, long ago. It was strange to be there, after so many years. Since Lily had died, Severus had not dared to go so far down the street, almost all of it until he reached the park where he had spent the last summer with her. Now he was there. It was as if time had stopped, as if that tyrant had never stretched his invisible claws on that place so dear to his childhood memories, the only ones that weren't populated with shame, weakness and pain.

The last summer had been the best, but also the cruelest. Lily was different. Of course, she was always his best friend, the only one actually, but she was different. She was more of a woman. Severus had never had the ardor, nor the permission, to get so close to a girl; he knew he was thin and ugly and repulsive. This was what the voice in his head repeated, the voice that sounded so much like that of James Potter and his friend Black. Lily didn't seem so disgusted. She sat on the swing and rocked back and forth. The skirt was raised a little above the knee, revealing beautiful white legs. Back and forth. The blouse was unbuttoned, just a button under the neck and suddenly Severus had realized that Lily too had breasts, like all her other companions, who nevertheless he had never seen so closely to notice their shapes, or their hair, or their skin. Lily didn't seem ashamed. She asked him to push her on the swing and he did it without protesting. He was happy, whatever happiness was.

Severus walked towards the deserted park, only to realize he wasn't really alone. A familiar figure was waiting for him, right there, on the swing. He approached cautiously, somehow knowing full well who was waiting for him. Sitting there, in front of him, but an adult, was Lily.

“I've been waiting for you” she told him, with a joyful smile on her lips.

Severus smiled as he had never smiled in so long. “Were you waiting for me? How long have you been expecting me?"

"Almost twenty years, Sev, but it's worth waiting a long time for a friend. Push me, Sev." And he had started to push the swing. Back and forth, back and forth. "You should bring here her too" Lily said, laughing. Severus was stunned, not understanding.

“Who should I bring? You are my only friend."

"Silly Billy. If you wanted, you could have many. Sometimes I think it's my fault... I abandoned you, Sev."

He, strangely, said nothing. Somehow he knew he had blamed her too, for everything that happened next.

“You should bring Ria here. I like her."

The swing had become distant, smaller and smaller. Severus had stretched out his hands, calling Lily by name, begging not to be alone again, then everything was reduced to a black dot and...

Severus woke with a start, sweating in his bed, cursing the whiskey and any other food that could have led him to that absurd dream, denying that, deep in his heart, he felt slightly relieved. Partly because of having met Lily, despite having been only an illusion and partly because, despite not wanting to accept it, she had finally left a tiny place in his heart to someone else. _Ria_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I very much appreciate all of you who are reading this. I realize that I am a totally pro - Snape writer, and this aspect will probably be more emphasized as the story progresses, so I hope all of you readers agree with this. I respect every opinion and every preference. I realize that I don't have the perfect command of the language, so if you find any consistent mistakes feel free to let me know. Any comments are absolutely appreciated and I hope to have your thoughts on this. Be careful out there. Much love.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianna and Severus attend Slughorn's dinner and the dinner comes to be quite interesting for different reasons.  
> Draco tries something risky and fails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️ Draco Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson groping, kissing

_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet_   
_Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_   
_Give a little more_

**_Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard_ **

_October 5, 1996_

It was almost dinner time. Severus heard an insistent knock on his living room door and put away the book he was eagerly dedicating himself to. Reading helped him not to think, it had always helped him to escape from his most dramatic memories. He rubbed his eyes and walked to the door with a steady pass. He snapped it open.  
In front of him stood Ria. Ria, in a knee-length blue lace sheath dress, high-necked and elegant. Her hair was pulled up simply to reveal her pretty face. She smelled of peppermint. She had her fingers intertwined on her lap and looked at him as if she expected something from him. Severus snorted. "What do you want?"

Arianna sighed disconsolately. “It's dinner time Severus, Slughorn is waiting for us and I told him I would accompany you. I'm a woman of my word." Then she looked him up and down. "You're missing the cloak."

"Don't you have anything better to do than come and bother me or do you take pleasure in being so annoyingly assertive?" Severus growled, but didn't refuse to follow her. In fact, he grabbed the cloak and walked out of the room.

“Both, Severus. I'm a Slytherin, just like you. Maybe that's why we are such friendly people, don't you think?" Ria laughed. They walked in silence in the corridor, keeping an exhausting safety distance. Arianna had the impression that Severus wasn't disgusted by physical contact, rather that he was so alien to it that he couldn't distinguish a slap from a caress. His cold and detached attitude, at times unpleasant and grim, hid something more. Ria knew pain when she encountered it, almost as if it could affect its owner's own magic. Severus was always so tense and nervous that it was impossible not to understand how much frustration there was in his heart. Maybe that's why she didn't fear him.  
Ria cleared her throat, then mimicking the professor's baritone voice she said. “ _May I offer you my arm, Arianna?_ Of course, very gladly professor, thank you. _My pleasure, Arianna_."  
Severus gave her a completely hallucinated, bewildered and shocked look. How dare she..!  
Ria blinked three or four times, then smiled openly. “Oh no, Severus! I didn't mean you, I know you are a gentleman. I was just talking to my inner self." Severus snorted nervously, suddenly grabbed the young woman's hand and placed it on his elbow, squeezing it under his arm. Ria smiled and he... well it wasn't so unpleasant to be accompanied by a beautiful woman to a dinner. Severus allowed himself a shy, imperceptible smile in the darkness of a corridor.

When they reached Professor Slughorn's dining room, Severus opened the door for Arianna, inviting her to enter before the eyes of a shocked Harry Potter, who watched Professor d'Este smile at Snape as if he were the loveliest man in the world. "Professors..." he commented, greeting them both. Severus growled and moved as far away from the boy as possible, refusing to notice him. He wouldn't let the boy-who-lived-to-ruin-his-life ruin that evening too.

Arianna walked over to Harry. "You must have done something really good in his class to have earned his indifference" Ria commented, winking.

Harry shrugged. “Actually, I know he hates me more than anyone else. Must be for my father…” he commented without thinking too much, and then covered it all up with a soft bellow. Arianna pretended not to have heard. "Professor, can I ask you a question?"

“Not if it's my subject, Potter. I don't talk about work during dinners."

“No, not about that… Professor, your laboratory is located in Knockturne Alley. Have you ever seen any Death Eaters around?"

Ria glared at Harry. She looked up at Snape for a moment and knew he was listening, but she trusted him, so she spoke. “Potter, I've read the papers too. I know what is happening and despite this apparent peace something is brewing… the attacks on Muggles, the disappearances… I don't know much, but something… Listen, how involved are you actually in all of this?"

Harry rolled his eyes in surprise. He had never been asked such a question, everyone had always assumed that he was somehow the predestined, the chosen one, the invincible. Professor d'Este questioned everything. “Quite involved, Professor. I mean, I'm Harry Potter."

Arianna shook her head. “Don't be cheek. To me you are just a kid, a kid who seems to have to deal with too much alone. You have a family? Friends? Anyone to help you with all of this? I know I'm asking a lot, but I'm not going to talk to you, Harry. You're a minor, you're a kid, still a student. As I spoke to Dumbledore, so will I with those who are behind this matter."

"How can we know we can trust you?" Harry asked fearlessly.

Ria pursed her lips, recognizing the typical Gryffindor arrogance inside him. "You can not."  
Slughorn joined his guests, the room filled with people, and dinner began.

~~~

Slughorn was chatting with Hermione Granger about something futile and uninteresting. The Granger's job, to be precise. Ria had just finished licking the last teaspoon of ice cream, while Severus hadn't paid any attention to the dessert.

"Are you going to eat that?" Ria whispered, approaching him.

"No" he hissed.

"So... can I have it?"

"Again. No."

Arianna snorted. Then he laughed softly. “ _Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet_ ” she started humming. Severus gave her a terrified look. Ria tried to hold back her laughter and took advantage of her moment of total and absurd astonishment to steal a drop of ice cream from his bowl. " _Little miss_ ah _innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_ " she whispered again and Severus' gaze became inflamed, even though she didn't know why it seemed to have caught fire. She stole another bite of ice cream.

Severus had to take a deep breath. Why, considering all that he had had to undergo in his life, had he now had to survive that sweet, unbearable, adorable misfortune that was turning out to be Arianna d’Este? A former student of his, moreover! An ocean of contradiction. As strict as she was in her class, she was utterly ironic, alert, sarcastic. Beautiful, tenacious and absolutely devoid of common sense (which was not a virtue in itself, but somehow…). Severus had no time for such nonsense.

Suddenly the door opened. Ginny Weasley walked in, her face lined with tears, but her dress flawless and a sad smile on her face. She apologized for the delay. Harry jumped up, like a knight ready to welcome his lady! With the only difference that the whole room went silent, Harry blushed, Hermione tugged at his sleeve to invite him to sit down again, and Ginevra stood still and awkward, unable to figure out exactly what to do.

"Ok!" Ria said, more or less in a low voice "let's avoid this teenage tragedy... now I will get up and go and... set myself on fire".

This time Severus had to cover his mouth with one hand to avoid bursting into a loud, ecstatic laugh. The whole room turned towards the two of them. "What?" Slughorn asked, slightly alarmed.

"Nothing!" Arianna exclaimed.

She and Severus exchanged a look, he quickly stood up. "Miss d’Este said she intends to retire. The day has been long, if you want to excuse her... May I accompany you?" Everyone was stunned as Ria and Severus walked down the hall and he offered his arm to her.

~~~

Draco was picking up pace. The corridor, which until recently had been deserted, was now populated by strange footsteps and the last thing Draco wanted was to be caught out. It wasn't late, but darkness was falling quickly over Hogwarts. The sky was filled with stars and his heart was filled with fear. It wasn't what he wanted for himself, but what choice could he have? Or Dumbledore, or his family. Himself, his father, his mother... He couldn't allow it, not to mention the shame that already rests on his family because of his idiot father's mistakes. The voices got closer and closer.

"Have you seen his face?" It was Professor d'Este, perfectly recognizable. Other footsteps with a familiar rhythm accompanied hers. A deep, soft laugh. Snape's voice saying just _shut up_ , but laughing... was he laughing? Draco didn't have time for this. A little further on, the door to the girls' bathroom opened. A lucky coincidence: from there he saw Pansy come out, while still buttoning her pants. Draco needed a diversion to push the professors away, so he pounced on the girl.

"Draco! What…"

"Shut up." Draco grabbed her face with one hand, pushed her against the closed bathroom door and devoured her lips. He pushed his body against the girl's, making her moan. _Fuck, shut up, little slut._ His warm tongue began to explore the depths of her mouth, tasting her lips and biting her, even though it was neither sensual nor delicious. Pansy wasn't great, but at that moment it seemed like the best sedative in the world. _Fuck it, why give up some fun?_ Draco slipped his hand over her breasts, squeezed them one at a time roughly, too hard, continuing to smother her with his lips. Her fingers didn't stop, they went down further, towards her hips, her ass, her thighs and her...

"Draco Malfoy!" Professor d’Este exclaimed behind him. Draco felt himself dragged back by Professor Snape's mighty hand, who quickly pulled him away. Pansy had a scared and confused expression. Perhaps too confused, because Ria approached the girl with suspicion.

"Do you feel OK?" she whispered to the girl. Pansy shook her head, said that everything was fine and that they had been carried away by the moment. “Detention, both of you. Report to Filch tomorrow morning. Now go back to your common room immediately."

Severus let the boy go, never taking his eyes off him. "Disgusting..." he hissed.

"Honestly… I really don't know." Ria smiled bitterly.

Severus would have liked to know what Ria meant, but understood that this was the right time to be silent. What's more, that meeting with Draco had brought him back to reality. Severus was an unworthy man.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianna joins the Order of the Phoenix, especially after discovering an old friendship within it. An unpleasant surprise awaits her at Hogwarts upon her return. Severus is not happy at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🎧PLEASE go listen to Melancholia (Xfactor Italy 2020) they are soooo superior! I love this song, it's now within my favourites. (This is not adv, it's just that I love them so much, I want to share this with you guys)

_Amor_   
_You don't find me_   
_I'm a reckless_   
_Are you knocking at_   
_The door?_   
_You don't want to_   
_Watch me bleed_   
_You won't find me_   
_At home_

**_Léon - Melancholia_ **

_October 31, 1996_

At the Burrow everyone was anxiously waiting. Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Harry and Hermione all had the feeling of being at home. A single day of freedom away from Hogwarts felt like a dream. Molly had prepared dinner for everyone and among the guests there were, of course, Remus and Tonks, Kingsley and Mad Eye, like every gathering of the Order. Harry still suffered from Sirius’s absence, but in Remus’s loving eyes he still saw the possibility of, some day and hopefully in the not too distant future, a real family, like the Weasleys. Not that Molly or Arthur didn't accept him as a son, but somehow, he was different. The dinner became more tense than expected, actually, and this was because everyone was waiting for the new guest... Molly had particularly appreciated the fact that the professor had not wanted to confide in Harry in private and doing so she had exposed herself in that way, expressing a willingness to confront adults, but Harry had insisted that her strange friendship with Snape wasn't a good sign. Lupin had silenced him. “We cannot begin to doubt each other. Being divided weakens us! Dumbledore trusts Snape, so I trust him and, likewise, if Dumbledore trusted this new teacher, then we should do it anyway."

After dinner there was a peaceful silence around the Burrow, at least until nine thirty, when the sky was covered with thick clouds and someone knocked on the door. Everyone exchanged a cautious look. “Oh, the hell! I'm going to open!" Molly Weasley exclaimed, to the great shock of everyone present. The woman opened the door. Arianna was in the rain: an umbrella floated above her head, to protect her from the pouring rain, in one arm she held a tray.

"I'm not a threat" Ria whispered. “I come in peace. Oh, and I brought dessert." Molly smiled, nodded, and invited her to warm up by the fire. Only when Arianna entered and took off her coat, an exclamation rose in the air.

"Ria?! It's you, then, it's really you!"

Arianna looked right away. "Tonks?!"

Remus and Harry exchanged a dubious look as the two embraced, but it was Ron who broke the silence. "So... do you know each other?"

"Damn yes!" Dora yelled "This girl is a fucking street fighter!"

Turned out Dora and Ria had attended Hogwarts around the same time, three years apart. Ria had never stopped fighting, all those years. Snape covered her up, kept her from being punished and Ria accepted all the help she could, but it wasn't always easy to win against bigger and stronger bloody Gryffindors bullies. Ria was good at spells, defended herself decently, but when they caught up with her, she knew it was time to drop her wand and clench her fists. One of those numerous times, Tonks had accidentally stumbled upon a third year Slytherin being kicked by two fifth year Gryffindors. Her noble and loyal soul had won. Who said Hufflepuffs are cowards? Tonks had leapt into the protection of the girl lying on the ground, sported a furious wolf's face, full of sharp teeth and angry drool. She had growled in the middle of the corridor, causing terror in the two boys. It was Ria, then, who had grabbed her cloak and prayed to her. "Snape..." Ria had whispered "help me... take me to Snape..." and without fear of the consequences Tonks had listened to her. Their friendship had continued in silence for the next three years. The two had never shared character or interests, passions or skills, but they compensated. Where one was in need, the other was there to help, without asking for anything in return, but knowing that she would find a way to repay. No one had dared to beat Arianna d’Este to blood. No one had ever dared to bother Nymphadora Tonks.

"Why did they do this?" Hermione asked with spontaneous naivety, referring to the persecutions at school.

Ria shrugged. "You know how things work... A noble-blooded Slytherin who dresses like a poor girl and wears teeth-braces? Stuff that has never been seen..."

"The Este family is a rich and noble family of pure-blooded Italian wizards, how is it possible..." Arthur began to ask, but Ria interrupted him before he could finish.

“My father was disinherited after he decided to marry my mother, a Muggle. I am a half-blood. My father devoted himself to his work one hundred percent and he was the only one to bring some money home... I was with my mother, I lived among Muggles more time than it seems and I'm not ashamed. Many say the hat was wrong with me, that probably any other choice would have been better for me, but if I can help save my house name, I'm proud of it."

Lupin blushed visibly. Ria's story was too familiar and evoked past mistakes he was ashamed of. He stood up suddenly, trying to distract his mind from Snape's memories by drowning his sorrows in a piece of cake, but Ria again attracted the attention of the room.

"Who is the werewolf?" Ria asserted decisively, scanning those present in the room. No one answered. "Don't tell me there isn't one, I can smell him. Who is it?" Remus blushed even more and dropped the cake. He exchanged a look with the young woman and she understood. “You don't have to be ashamed, it's not a fault or a choice. I can smell the magic, it's a hereditary medical condition, a bit like yours."

"Do you distinguish the magic according to the smell?" Tonks asked curiously.

"It is called magical parosmia, a singular as well as useless condition, most of the time" Mad Eye intervened with his usual grumpy manner, observing the guest carefully. Ria smiled and nodded.

"You say we smell the same, brother?"

"If this weren't the case, Arianna would be the only one who can distinguish us!" the twins exclaimed.

Harry intervened between one line and another. "I bet Snape smells of bitterness and old shoes."

Ria glared at him. "Professor Snape smells of dark chocolate, Ogden whiskey and tobacco... yes, it's dark, but... not the way you think." Everyone pretended not to hear. Lupin felt embarrassed and mocked. He smelled of dog, Snape smelled of chocolate and delicacies. He dared not imagine what James had smelled like. “In any case, you want information. I'll tell you everything I know." Ria began to tell everything. How Umbridge had imposed very high taxes on magical weapons artisans, how life had become unsustainable and the only choice was to surrender to sell to anyone. She explained what weapons she had sold, their consequences, how to protect oneself from them and… something more. “Something is happening in Knockturne Alley. Madame Lestrange, Greyback and the Malfoys often walk past my shop. They don't notice my windows along the sidewalk, but I hear everything. They are very cautious, but I heard them whispering… some Death Eater mission involves Hogwarts. School hasn't been a safe place for anyone for years, but at this point I think they want to get to…” Everyone looked up at Harry.

"Hogwarts is a safe place as long as Dumbledore is there to protect it!" Hermione exclaimed firmly.

“This is what I fear” Arianna added “not even Dumbledore is eternal. What if their mission is to get to Dumbledore before they point to Harry?"

Everyone shook their heads. Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard in the world, none of the Death Eaters could face him. Harry fueled his suspicions about Draco and fell silent. Ria was officially admitted to the Order of the Phoenix.

~~~

Ria returned to Hogwarts that same evening. It was a terrible, cold and rainy night and the wind was banging violently against the mighty walls of the castle. Ria didn't want to be alone. She liked the sound of rain, but the drafts whispering in the cracks in the walls, making eerie sounds, kept her awake and alert as never before. After all, she was used to getting little sleep at night. She decided to go knock on Severus' door. Ria knocked twice, calling him by name. Inside, she heard the sound of something falling to the ground, a dry thud that echoed up to the door.

“Shit, are you okay? Severus, are you there?"

From inside, she heard screams. "I AM NOT!"

"Why are you yelling?"

“I'M NOT… I'm not yelling. I am not _here_."

Ria sighed. “Severus, you are talking to me from behind the door. I know you're there."

"Well, then... _I don't care_."

Arianna widened her eyes and began to wonder why he was so grumpy. Then she thought back to those words, the way he had slurred them, his weird aggressive and disheveled behavior. Severus was… drunk.

"Severus open the door now."

"Go away, I don't want you."

“I don't care, you're not well and I'm not leaving you alone! I remind you that I am a locksmith, I can unscrew the hinges of the door in two minutes, but if you want to have it closed during the night, I suggest you..."

The door opened suddenly, but slowly, sliding and turning silently along its hinges. Ria entered on tiptoe. Severus was turned from behind, sitting in his chair. At his feet there was a book, forgotten on the floor. The fingertips of his right hand swirled on the edge of a shot glass filled with Ogden to the brim and the table was smeared with alcohol, which dripped to the floor. Severus was silent.

"Severus, it's me, it's Ria."

“Ria… you came so late, Ria. So _fucking_ late."

Arianna had no idea what he was talking about, but she approached cautiously. “It's never too late, some say. In any case, now I'm here." The girl walked towards the table, with a movement of the wand she cleaned up all the alcohol scattered on the floor. Severus didn't look at her. Ria put her hand to the glass. With extreme delicacy she took it and slowly pulled it away from the table. Eventually, Ria knelt in front of him, near the fire.

"What... My..." Severus mumbled, pointing to the alcohol.

“Do you want to see something truly magical? Look. Now there is" Ria said, showing him the whiskey, just before swallowing it in one breath "now it is gone". Severus smiled and shook his head. “I don't know why you're doing this, but you don't have to. You don't have to drink so much."

"I deserve it, I'm not worthy, it's my fault..."

“Stop talking this nonsense. You are the smartest wizard I know and despite what everyone says... I know who is behind the mask and you aren't a cruel man, Severus. We aren't defined by the mistakes we make, no one is perfect and we are all human, deep down in our hearts, even those who seem to have nothing left of human. We are defined by what we are willing to do to remedy them. I trust you, Severus." Arianna stood up and with a nod of her head told him to follow her. Severus got up and staggered to the bedroom.

"You can't... this is... my bed."

"I know, Severus, but you aren't in a position to... do it all by yourself." Ria began to blush. He probably wouldn't remember anything from that evening. Probably, if he were still a potions teacher, he would have had something available to make him feel better immediately, but she couldn't ask Slughorn for such a thing, she knew it would make Severus uncomfortable. Severus sat down on the bed and began trying to take off his boots, without success. Ria knelt in front of him again and began undoing the strings.

"Stop. Stop now, please…” Severus whispered. When Ria's fingers touched his ankles, Severus burst into tears and tried to push her away, pushing her away with a kick she managed to avoid. “What's the point of all this? Why is it always so fucking fun to take off my clothes? You wanna know the truth, uh?! IT IS NOT!"

Arianna was frightened at first. Then a terrible thought crossed her mind. Severus was crying, he was afraid of being touched and refused to undress, as if... as if someone had taken advantage of him, as if he had been the victim of... abuse. An abuse of a physical nature. Ria's heart broke into a thousand pieces. She got up slowly and sat down next to him. “You are safe with me, Severus. I won't hurt you. I'm here to help you, I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want you to hurt yourself, so I don't want to leave you alone. You're not alone. I care about you, nobody will hurt you here, okay?" Arianna kept repeating these words, partly distracting him from her hands, which in the meantime had begun to draw reassuring circles on his back. She didn't try to get any closer, didn't do anything that might scare him, but slowly Severus closed his eyes and fell on the bed, falling sound asleep. Ria left the room with a heart full of pain, and with the hope of being able to heal them from the demons of her past, whatever they were.

~~~

Severus had hated his house for as long as he could remember. Everything about his house was repulsive: the dusty old living room, full of crumpled newspapers and forgotten books, the kitchen filthy and smelling of alcohol and smoke, his parents' bedroom with its soot-stained ceiling and his room, claustrophobic and covered in cracks and mold. Everything disgusted him. Everything and everyone, with one single exception: his mother. Eileen was a weak woman, but a sweet mother. If she had the strength to do it, she would have wanted to keep him safe. Severus had always wondered why she and his father had stayed together for so long. People said they got married for love... Eileen probably had no choice: the one night mistake with a Muggle cost her a lifetime. It seemed that the Prince's life story was littered with irreparable mistakes.

He was in his old house. A pleasant smell came from the kitchen. A familiar and reassuring voice hummed a distant melody, which Severus had already heard, but he couldn't recognize. Everything was taller than he remembered. He had been eight when the chairs stopped looking so oblong and now everything seemed to have shrunk again, as if he were a child. Severus, terrified of meeting his father but strong with the desire to hug his mother again, walked towards the kitchen.

Eileen was there, turning the ladle inside the pot and humming. There was no trace of his father. She turned and smiled at him. Gods, he had missed her. “Severus, it is so good to see you, my son. It's nice to know you have a new friend." Severus wondered if she was talking about Lily, but in those days she didn't seem to have the physical strength to notice him.

Severus wept. "Mom, I'm afraid."

Eileen looked at him with deep doubt and melancholy. "Of what?"

"Of everything."

She shook her head, leaned down, kissed his forehead. "You are not alone, Severus, not anymore."

Everything slipped away like rain running down opaque glass and Severus woke up. Another dream. His head throbbed painfully: he rubbed his eyes and groaned, trying to get out of bed. "Shit..." he whispered, undoing his jacket still buttoned. He must have been breathing badly all night, but why hadn't he undressed? He looked around. The room was immaculate, but something… something wasn't what it was supposed to be. It was the first day of November. Severus was sure of it, because October 31 was the only day of the year when he drank, and he drank as much, as much as he had sworn never to drink in his life. The memory of that night, of Lily, of her death… it was too much. He just wanted to forget, at least for a moment.  
He put his feet on the cold floor, to see that the boots were still there. The boots… _Oh. Fucked. Merlin._ Ria had been there that night. Ria… she had taken off his boots. _Shit. Fuck, shit, shit. Fuck. What a shit life._ Severus undressed nervously and went into the shower.

~~~

Ria woke with a start. A mighty hand knocked on his door with relentless force. The young woman fell out of bed, rolled on the floor and stared at the ceiling with her back aching from the fall.

“I know you're there! Open the door!" Severus barked from across the room. Ria had to shake herself and grab a robe, then she went to open the door.

"Coming!" she exclaimed. Arianna opened the door trying to put on a half smile, or at least to look reassuring and friendly, but Severus rushed into the room, pushing her against the door she closed behind him and pointing his wand at her throat.

"What have you done?" he hissed through clenched teeth, threatening her. Arianna was frightened, not by him, but by the whole situation, by that wand and by his angry look. She had only tried to be friends with him. She tried to speak, but the words choked in her throat and she began to cry. Only then did Severus realize what he was doing. A man like him, a dark wizard who had cornered a young woman; he threatened her with his wand, she cried. He had felt violated in his privacy, but now he had repaid her in the worst way: Arianna had raised her hands in surrender, without holding her wand, she was crying and couldn't speak, her throat was so tight that Severus had the sensation she could feel the lump in her pharynx that prevented her from expressing herself. He felt like a monster and when he looked into her eyes, he saw what he never wanted to see in a woman looking at him: fear.

Severus drew back immediately, taking a deep breath. Ria let out a stifled sob and then resumed breathing. “I wasn't sleepy last night. I stopped by your door for... but you... You drank too much. I didn't want to leave you alone, in that condition, and I was afraid that you could seriously harm yourself.” She began to explain, wiping her eyes from tears. “You said such bad things about yourself, and I couldn't… I accompanied you to bed. I wanted to help you change your clothes, but when I unlaced your boots you kicked me away." Severus's thoughts traveled like shooting stars in deep space, like a meteor shower storming his mind. What had he said? How much had he revealed about himself? How much had he exposed himself? He was tired of having to fight the demons of his past. "I don't know how you managed to hide everything that happened to you, and although I don't actually know what happened to you, I'm afraid I understand something" she continued. “You are always so closed, so defensive. You cover yourself beyond belief under dark and tight clothes, you constantly protect yourself... Do not think I haven't noticed certain details. Physical contact that isn't aimed at hurting is foreign to you."

"Shut up..." Severus tried to silence her, moving away from her, but she didn't stop talking.

“I know what you went through. Abuses. Physical abuse, numerous and persistent, I don't know for how long, or why or even by whom, but I assure you... "

"SHUT UP!" he barked.

“Healing takes time. I can understand that you aren't ready now, but you have a friend in me if you're ready to accept me. I care about you, Severus. You know it. I'll be here when you want to open up." Ria wiped her face again and tried to look at Severus, but he had his face hidden in his black hair as he stared at the floor, still and silent. She opened the door slowly, offering him a way out and he vanished as quickly as he had rushed there. Arianna sighed before preparing a strong, black coffee.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new distance between Arianna and Severus proves to be tiring for both. Ria risks her life trying to overhear an interesting, if secret, conversation in the corners of Knockturne Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Explicit violence, rating may change

_I know there's something going on_   
_I know it won't be long_   
_Won't be long before you're gone_

**_I know there's something going on - Anni-Frid Lyngstad_ **

_November 1996 - mid-month_

Arianna and Severus never spoke to each other from that day on. He was too proud to apologize and too scared of reality to face Ria and her sincere friendship (something he believed he could do without, that he didn't need at all and that, in fact, it was proving to be the same time chasm and salvation). She had no intention of imposing herself in his life like a tornado, which swoops down on people's lives and sweeps them away, razing everything to the ground. She would only be there if he wanted to; moreover, you cannot save someone who doesn't want to be saved. Ria suffered, but in silence and with dignity. To fill her sleepless nights when she wasn't busy with her furnace, she had decided to take responsibility for the night rounds. She had got into the habit of walking silently through the corridors, carrying a floating candle and a book. She enjoyed reading so much and was so used to staying up all night that the ghosts had acclimatized to her presence and gathered around her from time to time asking her to read for them. Their eternal pains were lightened when she, in the middle of the night, whispered those tales to them. Among them, the Bloody Baron was the most melancholy and the most romantic.

One of those nights, Arianna didn't know she was not alone in the dungeon. Having been a Slytherin, she had been entrusted with that part of the castle. Sitting on the first step of the spiral stairs that led to the empty potions classroom, in the company of the ghost, Ria read. Severus passed by. He too was the victim of long sleepless nights populated by dark and terrible nightmares. The freezing cold of the dungeon kept him awake and made him feel like he was breathing again.

“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened."

The Bloody Baron sighed. “Beautiful words, splendid! Did you write them?"

Ria laughed. “Beautiful, indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't write them. I would be somewhere else right now, if I was Dostoevskij. Probably under two layers of mud..."

Severus found himself smiling behind the wall, listening to that conversation. It had been at least twenty-five years since he had read any muggle novel, and now Arianna was reading _The Brothers Karamazov_ to a ghost as if it were a storybook.

"And do you believe in these words?" the ghost asked her with a tone of pride.

Arianna sighed. "I don't know, but... It's not all wrong, isn't it? After all, these are really nice words. Words of forgiveness. All those who truly believe in their cause deserve forgiveness when they ask for it, since, if nothing else, they've truly acted out of faith, my dear Baron."

Silence fell into the basement. Severus held his breath until he heard Arianna go away. Maybe there was really something selflessly pure in that girl's heart.

~~~

Life apparently continued quietly. Quidditch proceeded at a fast pace, the students were preparing for the arrival of December and the sky was becoming whiter every day and the air getting colder. Ria held her lectures without Professor Snape's presence, and some students had noticed his absence. Even the teacher herself seemed vaguely disappointed when the last student on Monday morning closed the door behind her, without any news from the DADA professor.

"She almost seems to have gone out like a spent candle... I didn't think I'd ever say that, but the lessons were more fun when Snape was around" Hermione commented, walking with Harry in the Transfiguration courtyard.

“Why should she be so sad about it? Snape should receive an Order of Merlin for his attitude as a perfect bastard! I mean, can you imagine Professor d'Este with Snape? Can you imagine Snape with any female human?"

Harry laughed, Hermione blushed trying to hide the laugh, but they both paled when someone behind them pointed out their presence, and it wasn't a student.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor, each, for having been disrespectful to a teacher!" Arianna thundered, not seeming any less threatening than Snape himself. "I'd be careful with your words, Mr. Potter, if you don't want to spend the rest of the year in detention with Filch. Being the chosen one doesn't give you permission to behave as the hell you like!"

Harry and Hermione nodded and ran away, under the watchful eye of the teacher, unaware that none of her movements were lost in the eyes of the dark wizard who, by now, could no longer do without her friendship. Severus would soon have to find the strength to apologize, in the hope that this time his words weren't entirely useless.

~~~

On the third Saturday of the month, Arianna returned to the shop in Knockturne Alley, like every time. The apparition left her in Diagon Alley, the direction from which she had to return to her spartan home and furnace to continue her sales. She was walking under the damp London sky, fearlessly wandering through those dark streets she had come to know like the soles of her own shoes, when suddenly she heard familiar voices. Disturbing rumors, to tell the truth.

"The Dark Lord is starting to be perplexed about it" Bellatrix commented acidly, her forked tongue perfectly distinguishable in the silence of the street. Fenrir Greyback's evil growl cut her off.

“It's still too early, Bella… why are you in such a hurry? Is there something to be afraid of?" a female voice joined the conversation.

“He has nothing to fear! The Dark Lord has conquered eternal life and he alone knows the secret! We must be proud to be his servants. All he lacks is that wand."

Fenrir interrupted the dialogue again, sniffing the air deeply. That man never seemed to be completely free from his wolf form... Arianna understood that he would perceive the smell of an intruder. Keeping her calm, Ria covered her head with her cloak and started walking again. Bellatrix Lestrange disappeared and Ria just had time to notice Narcissa Malfoy's blonde hair before seeing that Antonin Dolohov and Fenrir had begun to follow her. She plucked up courage and walked on with a measured and rhythmic step, until she reached the shop. The two Death Eaters didn't go into her shop to buy, she knew that. Clutching the laurel wand in her pocket, she opened the door to the shop for them, knowing she had no escape: they would have tortured her to find out what she had overheard, or maybe they would have directly killed her. Ria couldn't allow it.

"Do you need something from my store?" Arianna asked in a firm voice. Fenrir laughed.

"Miss d’Este, seems that you have neglected the shop lately. What business kept you at Hogwarts for so long?" Dolohov asked. A sick and disgusting smile was already growing on his perverse lips, which revealed nothing good.

“It's just a question of money. My sales don't cover the costs sometimes. Such a pity" Arianna replied with feigned nonchalance and this infuriated that evil wizard even more.

"If only you decided to accept one of our proposals..." he growled, but Ria interrupted him: "I'm not going to tie myself to a man!"

"Well then maybe we should teach you to indulge yourself!"

Fenrir lunged at her, but Ria, who was ready, pulled out her wand faster. The spell slammed Fenrir to the ceiling and the werewolf fell unconscious to the floor. Ria, however, was unable to protect herself completely from Dolohov, who threw a cruciatus curse that brought her to her knees behind the sales counter. She didn't have time to get up. He grabbed her by the hair and lifted her face. "I'm not going to use an imperio on you, I want you to be perfectly aware of what I'm going to do to you" he hissed cruelly.

Arianna laughed bitterly: “I dare you to do it. I'll bite your cock off, you fucking pervert."

Antonin punched her violently on the cheekbone. She hit her face on the floor and her nose began to bleed profusely. What the Death Eater didn't know was that it was not possible to take down Arianna d’Este with a single well-placed punch, the girl was a fighter. When he tried to get his wand out, she grabbed one of her knives and she threw the blade at him, cutting the white flesh of his right cheek. He screamed in pain, but the fight didn't end. Ria got a kick, straight in the chest, and fell down the stairs leading down into the basement to the furnace. The girl just had time to close the door with a wave of her wand. She had little time before the two managed to reach her. With all the adrenaline running through her veins, Arianna used her wand and, in a large trunk, she shrunk all her possessions, whatever. The weapons, the blacksmith tools and the sales record. Eventually she crawled across the floor, clinging to the luggage with her only strength left. The echo of the door rang louder and louder. They would soon be able to open it and she would die, but not before being abused in any way possible. She couldn't stay. With all the energy she had left, all the strength and tenacity that still passed through her wand, Arianna apparted to reappear on the wet mud of Hogsmeade, were she finally fainted. Around her face, some spray of snow turned crimson red and a cry of horror rose in the air.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus takes care of injured Ria and she confesses him her darkest secret

_Ultraviolence_   
_I can hear sirens, sirens_   
_He hit me and it felt like a kiss_   
_I can hear violins, violins_   
_Give me all of that ultraviolence_

**_Ultraviolence - Lana del Rey_ **

"...stable, but she may be unconscious for a few days and honestly, I think that would be good considering her appearance."

Ria slowly regained consciousness. Those words were the first she perceived. Female voice, cold hands, dazzling light. It had something familiar, but she couldn't be sure. "Do I look that shit?"  
Her voice was hoarse and rusty, but she was glad she wasn't dead. Immediately the light subsided. The intense and bright glow that came from the windows behind her was covered by a black silhouette, but the shadow wasn't oppressive. On the contrary, Arianna couldn't see, but she could feel: that smell of bitter chocolate, whiskey and burnt cigars was familiar, more than comfortable. She smiled imperceptibly.

"Go Poppy, I'll take care of Miss d'Este from now on" Severus stated.

"Don't you have anything better to do than just stare at my ugly face?" Ria laughed, her ribs hurt too. Severus shook his head.

Poppy shrugged in surrender. "Well then, my dear, I can say that you are in good hands! I have packs of chilled kids to treat!"

Arianna opened her eyes and began to regain her sight clearly. Severus was sitting next to her and was extracting some potions from her pockets. "Open" he ordered and she obeyed without a word, swallowing all the potions he gave her without fear and without even asking what they were.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Why, please tell me, should I know what happened, huh?"

Arianna continued to look at him with shining eyes and her face was tired and pale. Severus placed a hand on her forehead and invited her to lower her head back to the pillow. With one finger he wiped a drop of sweat on the girl's forehead, then seemed to recover from a deep thought, quickly withdrawing his hand and staying at the girl's side. “Students found you half-conscious on the stairs of their shop. They just had time to warn Dumbledore and help was sent to you immediately. However, this is not the time to speak. You have to rest. I gave you a pain potion, one to heal the broken ribs and another to relieve your face. You'll be much better tomorrow." Severus started to walk away, when

Ria gently grabbed his cloak. "Why are you here?"

Severus sighed. "Healing takes time..." he whispered.

Arianna smiled, closing her eyes. "I knew it. I knew you would come back. "

~~~

Ria was fourteen years old and although she had learned early to fight in the corridors of Hogwarts and, just as soon, to hide her misdeeds, this time she was defeated and the situation would have degenerated quickly if it had not been for that girl. The Hufflepuff had intervened quickly, had been good. Arianna had never met a metamorphomagus before that day. Tonks had accompanied her to Professor Snape's office.

"Go away, or you'll gain a good detention" Ria had told her, leaning against a wall.

Dora shook her head and rolled her eyes: "But you too will be punished!"

Arianna had heard the professor's footsteps approaching the door and with a nervous gesture of her hand she had pushed the girl away, who had flown away. She had breathed a sigh of relief. The door had opened.

"Which of you dunderheads has...!" the professor had yelled, but his anger soon evaporated.

Against the wall was Miss d'Este, her face covered in blood and he knew exactly what had happened. He grabbed her shoulder, looked around to make sure she wasn't being watched, and pulled her into his office.

"I couldn't go to the infirmary, they would have wondered..."

“I know, shut up now. Sit down” he ordered her and dragged a chair across the room. He had grabbed healing paste, clean bandages, and warm water to cleanse her wounds and, without adding anything, he knelt in front of her and began to medicate her. In a few minutes he was done. The two stood looking at each other for a moment. Severus recognized those eyes, that anger and that pain bottled up inside that young girl.

"Professor" she whispered. Her irises filled with tears, her lips began to tremble. "I am so tired."

Ria had flung herself into his arms and started sobbing loudly. Severus had never hugged one of his students until that day, but she was broken. He drew reassuring circles on her back until Arianna's crying began to subside.

"I know, Miss d'Este. Don't let them win."

~~~

Severus visited Ria that night. He reached the infirmary around eleven thirty and remained at the side of the young woman who seemed to be sleeping peacefully, despite that thread of fever that made her sweat. He didn't want the whole school to know he was there, it was safer to move around the school during the night. He had worried: Ria wasn't badly injured, but such concussions in a woman were a horrifying sight. What's more, he remembered his mother's appearance well after his discussions with Tobias and Ria looked dangerously like Eileen at the time. Around midnight the situation got worse. Arianna began to shiver, her forehead was cold, she continued to sweat and shake. Severus finally, alarmed, woke her up.

“Hush, it's okay, you're safe. You're safe” he whispered, and Arianna gave him a frightened look, which however calmed down immediately when their eyes met. He smiled slightly. Ria began to cry and shook her head.

“I'm not, Severus. I'm not."

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Ria cleared her throat and tried to speak. Severus had to caress her forehead for a long time before she was in a position to express herself again. Then Ria began to tell: "It all started about a year ago... My father died and left the business to me. The oven and my art are all I own, but business was abruptly curbed by the Minister's defensive policy and the shop was failing… I needed to find a way to survive on my work and my strength alone. When Dolohov and Carrow entered my shop for the first time, they spent several gold coins and bought many valuable items. I knew who they were, but I was hungry. Severus, I was hungry and I had to work for a living... They came back, they came back with the Lestranges, the Malfoys and all kinds of dark wizards. They fueled my earnings. Then something happened… Dolohov decided he was interested. He wanted… he asked me… he came to my shop, offering me his name. His hand… his bed. I refused. I always refused, but he became insistent and I was tired of supporting that bunch of criminals. You know the things they do. That's disgusting. I don't want to marry him. I can not do that. I would be willing to do anything to continue running my business, it is my whole life, I have nothing else, but... I cannot get married. I am... I am..."  
Severus had to grit his teeth to keep from screaming in rage. What he was discovering was disconcerting and terrifying and greatly worsened the position of Arianna, who was now in serious danger and should never, for any reason, leave Hogwarts. Ria took a deep breath before confessing the worst of her shame.  
“I am sterile, Severus. My lineage was denied me by a curse, because of my blood... because my father fell in love with a muggle!"  
The wizard started. Ria's life was filled with sadness and shame, just like his.  
“What do you think would have happened when the Death Eaters found out? What if I agreed to marry Dolohov? I would have become a half-blood whore!"  
Severus didn't know what to say, because Arianna was right. What a terrible burden that secret must have been all her life. She fell back sobbing onto the pillow, but he decided he didn't want to leave her alone. Severus hugged her: he hugged her to his chest without saying anything and she slowly calmed down, sinking her fingers under his cloak and hiding her face on his chest. After a few minutes Ria sighed deeply; Severus hoped she felt better. Healing would take time, but they were all together.  
“You smell good, Sev…” she murmured, before falling into a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Severus and Arianna can be called friends, even if he continues to hide the most important part of his past from her. Their friendship does not go unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Ronald Weasley/Lavender Brown sex;  
> Hermione Granger unintentional voyeurism

_You and I go hard_   
_At each other like we're going to war_   
_You and I go rough_   
_We keep throwing things and slamming the doors_   
_You and I get so damn dysfunctional we stop keeping score_   
_You and I get sick_   
_Yeah, I know that we can't do this no more_

**_One more night - Maroon 5_ **

_December 1996 - mid-month_

Things changed between the two of them. Their friendship blossomed in silence, with dignified tranquility: Ria spent with Severus all the time he didn't dedicate to lessons and saving Draco Malfoy's ass. The boy was awkward, frightened and unable. Severus was tired and frustrated, but part of his anger was stilled by Arianna, who never failed to keep him company in the darkest moments. She was there, always.  
There was something different in Arianna, compared to the other women he had met in his life. There was in her a tireless tenacity and a spirit of acceptance and understanding that he had never encountered in any human being. He had started talking. No, he hadn't confided those details of his life, but sometimes he had allowed himself to confess, about his father, his mother, those hatred feelings towards Muggles that he had begun to harbor at a young age, when he discovered that he was a wizard, but no one had ever been his friend. On the contrary, people had always taken pleasure in the violence perpetrated on him. It had been impossible to resist the temptation to finally get a little respect, that recognition of his talents that had always been denied him, that power, that strength and that wealth to be able to escape from the filth that covered his life. It was equally immediate to realize the mistake of his choice, when what was most dear to him in the world was put in danger. Arianna shook his hand and stroked his face. Severus had gotten used to that delicate touch and was no longer afraid of it.

“I can only imagine how difficult it was. You are the bravest man I have ever known, Severus Snape." When she said those words to him, he couldn't remember a moment in the past sixteen years when he'd been so happy. Foolish of him, even though he had already run into that situation, not wanting to admit that that feeling of affection and friendship was actually hiding something more.

Then it was she who confessed and... well Severus wasn't ready, not exactly, but he knew how to be good at listening. Arianna wasn't ashamed of herself, at least not since she had confided her biggest secret to him and he had accepted it. All her life Ria had felt that she was only half a woman. “It was impossible to have a real relationship with anyone, anyone really” she said, speaking of her condition, “and it's pretty embarrassing. A man can pay for certain things, but I barely had the money to look after myself at the end of the month. At a certain point it's no longer very important how others see you, if when you look in the mirror every morning you see nothing but a failure... but I have come to terms with certain things. I am no less a woman because of my condition."

Severus had smiled imperceptibly. “I can assure you that you absolutely are a woman of formidable abilities. A real Slytherin woman." And what a woman, Merlin!

~~~

"Have you seen Snape?" Hermione commented from the Gryffindor table. Ron was sitting far away, with Lavender and they were kissing again. Hermione had almost gotten used to that stinging pain every time she was forced to see them together.

Harry shrugged and replied, “Yeah, well, it's Snape. As usual."

“No, not as usual” she said, “take a good look at him. His hair is no longer so greasy and disgusting, on the contrary it's clean and even voluminous! His skin is no longer pale and sallow, even his… Oh Merlin! Look!" Harry glanced at the teachers' table. Arianna had exchanged a few words with Slughorn, then turned to Snape on her left with a bright smile. He had reciprocated, nodding and… blushing?! In short, that color was too rosy for Severus Snape, dungeon bat of Hogwarts!  
"I bet it has to do with Slughorn's invitation! In my opinion, they'll come to the party together” Hermione commented. Her thoughts immediately turned to Ronald, who always seemed unaware of the attention she paid him.

If even Snape really managed to find a partner, a girlfriend or whatever professor d'Este was for him (and she was certainly more than just a friend, it was evident) then Hermione could also find the courage to step forward, to face Ronald, whatever the consequence of that rash gesture. That night, she made a decision: she would meet Ron before bed, she would stop him in the common room and she would have been able to invite him to the bloody Slughorn party. The girl left the library, her arms full of new books, and headed for the Gryffindor common room, when some voices caught her attention. Hermione was not a meddler, but she didn't approve of certain rules being broken: her peers liked to hide in the darkest corners of Hogwarts to exchange deep affections and more. She knew her friends did too and didn't brag about it. However, she preferred to ignore this sort of thing. This time, however, the voice was recognizable.

"Turn around" Ron had whispered, but that whisper echoed in Hermione's ears as she approached the hidden corner, scared but devoured by curiosity.  
A stifled moan, a soft breath.  
Hermione took another step forward, another step into the shadows.

“Ronald! What are you...?"

"Don't talk, Lav."

Hermione saw: Ron had his pants pulled down around his knees, he was holding tightly to Lavender's crumpled skirt, raised just above the hips, and had moved the panties to reveal the girl's cunt. A patch of sparse, shaggy blonde hair covered the soft lips of that wet sex as Ron ran two fingers over it, just before approaching his cock. His cock was still half flaccid, he took it between his fingers and began stroking it, back and forth, with his wrist extended. Hermione was ashamed: she wanted to scream scandal, cry and despair, but for the first time she saw Ron, for real, and his... He closed his eyes, tilting his head back and pursing his lips, trying to concentrate. A vein throbbed in his neck, his tense muscles were visible through the tight sweater on his chest, and a single drop of sweat slid across his forehead. Hermione tried to restrain herself, but she had to painfully endure the excitement that was beginning to stain her panties with sweet liquids that her pussy was getting wet at that sensual sight.

Lavender necessarily had to interrupt that moment. "Ron Ron, why are you taking so long?" she asked, in that shrill, hateful voice of hers, swaying her buttocks like a cheap whore. Ron shut her up again. He told her not to talk, in fact, not to make any noise at all.  
When he stuck the head of his cock between the lips of her hot sex, Hermione closed her eyes and cried, trying to deny that perverse excitement of seeing the man of her dreams fucking that idiot girl. Hermione held back her sobbing and left. No, she wasn't going to invite Ron to Slughorn's party.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slughorn's party is all it takes to bring the two professors irremediably closer.

_Sipping a drink and laughing at imaginary jokes_   
_As all the signals are sent, her eyes invite you to approach_   
_And it seems as though those lumps in your throat_   
_That you just swallowed have got you going_   
_Come on, come on, come on_   
_Come on, come on, come on_   
_Number one party anthem_

**_No. 1 party anthem - Arctic Monkeys_ **

_December 20, 1996_

Hermione lost her bet when Snape and Slughorn walked into the party that evening together. No trace of Professor d'Este. However, what initially caught the girl's attention (managing to distract her from McLaggen, who for some absurd reason she had finally decided to invite, given that Ron didn't seem in the least offended by that choice) was the sumptuousness of the room. On either side of the room were circular tables in bright copper, wrought iron chairs for two or three people, silver lace embroidered tablecloths and cushions adorned with emerald green drapes. The ceiling must have been low, as the Gothic arches rising just above his head were visible, but an extensive spell made the ceiling glow like a starry sky that emanated a silver light and from which imperceptible snowflakes fell. There was actually a welcoming warmth in that room and Hermione took off her cloak.

~~~

Draco was standing at the front door of that stupid party. Stupid and useless, so he had defined it, yet there he was, yearning for its entrance. He would deny it to the death. Why hadn't he been invited? Gods, only a couple of years ago he was attending the quidditch finale match with the Minister of Magic himself and now that spineless Professor Slughorn hadn't invited him! Him, Draco Malfoy. Anger boiled in his veins, but he suppressed it with spite, with that acidity that, that year, was driving everyone away from him. Even Pansy, after the last "accident", had never approached him again and behaved with caution towards him.

"Mr. Malfoy" the voice of Professor d'Este interrupted him as he complained in his thoughts. Draco turned around with an expression of terror and annoyance on his face, that fear that never left him since Mad Eye had turned him into a ferret and had slipped him into his friend's underwear, only to punish him for a stupid joke. “Offended not to have been invited to a party that, in your opinion, was not even worth considering?"  
Draco tensed, lowered his face and hid his tear-filled eyes. He was so tired. Tired of all that shame, tired of having no choice, tired of always being a Malfoy, his father's son. Draco was coming to hate his father, the Dark Lord and all the sacrifices they had been forced to undergo for a cause that had been taught to him throughout the vote as the ultimate doctrine and which, now, seemed only a source of shame, failure and ache.  
Arianna approached him. "Look at me" she whispered. It was a gentle, non-authoritarian order. In the darkness of the corridor, the young teacher raised the boy's face, placing two fingers under his chin and looking into his eyes. "What happens?" The voice of the young woman in front of him was sweet and comforting, somehow.

Draco took a deep sigh and shook his head. "You can't understand..." he stated with a lump in his throat that prevented him from breathing. The boy turned and left the corridor, leaving Arianna dumbfounded for a moment. In any case, she couldn't follow the boy: at that moment there was an event in which she had promised to participate.

~~~

Severus drank the fifth glass of champagne while sharing a toast with Professor Slughorn. “Ah my boy! I'm glad to have you here with us! It is a splendid party, really and... ah, but where is Miss d'Este? Such a wonderful teacher, don't you think? I wonder what she was like as a student, definitely a brilliant girl, isn't that Severus?"

The professor had to grit his teeth and pretend he wasn't bothered at all. He hated being called "boy". He was a man, damn it! An adult, powerful and educated wizard and… “A diligent student, surely, Horace. I admit that her lessons can be interesting, even if..."

Severus looked up towards the entrance: the stairs leading down to the party room, starting from the ground floor of the castle, were dark, except in their final stretch, where two lanterns illuminated the last three steps. Ria appeared right there, like a vision. Her face was framed by a simple hairstyle, a bun on the nape with some curls that fell along her cheek. Her body, slender but tempered by fire and fatigue, was sensually wrapped in a long, tight-fitting dress of a white fabric, crossed by shy silver lights, which made her shine only for him, only in front of his bewitched gaze. He had never seen a woman so… _so_ and that was it. Lily was of a simple, subtle, discreet beauty: her skin was pale, pale as the sky of Cokeworth, her eyes were green and bright with childish and innocent joy, her lips were thin and rosy like freshly blossomed wildflowers under the first, shy spring sun. Ria was something else entirely. The two women had nothing in common in appearance. Arianna had a warm skin, as if all her life she had tanned on the hot Mediterranean beaches, her lips were plump, her eyes were dark and deep as wells inhabited by hot and passionate flames, her hair was dark and thick as the mane of a lion. Yes, they were different, but _holy shit_ , Severus had nothing to complain about it!

Ria approached with a nice smile and exchanged a look with the two professors in front of her. "Buonasera!" she exclaimed. Slughorn shook her hand warmly, Severus was totally paralyzed, like a frozen stockfish.

"Long last!" the potions teacher welcomed her "I was wondering where you were!"

Ria nodded: “I had a mishap along the way, but here I am. I brought you a Christmas present, something to express my gratitude to your invitation”. The young woman opened her clutch bag and pulled out a package just a little larger than her hand. "I made it, it's a soporific arrow, with the only exception that its power never dies out. Its soporific effect persists until it is… extracted. Use it with caution."

Slughorn thanked, fascinated by the object, Severus wondered why, in addition to being exceptionally beautiful, Arianna had to be so maliciously brilliant. _She'll be the death of me_ , Severus thought, holding back a sigh. The last thing he needed was a distraction.

"You are so quiet, Severus" Ria whispered, with a faint blush on her cheeks. He looked at her without saying anything and she realized she had managed, for the first time in who knows how many years of history, to leave him speechless. It was at that moment that Longbottom, with a tray full of champagne in one hand, approached the young woman, offering something to drink.

"If I may, professor, you are beautiful!" the boy exclaimed, blushing even on the tip of his nose, but Arianna immensely appreciated that compliment.

"That's sweet of you, thank you Neville" she said, and as Arianna confessed Neville Longbottom's talent in Herbology to Professor Slughorn ( _didn't he tell you, Mr. Potter I mean? It seems that Mr. Longbottom's help was crucial. during the Triwizard Tournament!_ ) Severus cursed himself, because even Longbottom had managed to compliment her and he hadn't found a single word that seemed appropriate.

Eventually he decided he wouldn't be such a coward. He broke into the conversation and firmly asked Ria: "Would you like to dance with... me, perhaps?". Arianna lit up, like a star in the night and nodded.

And just like that, they were dancing. And they weren't dancing something simple and aloof, a stiff waltz or anything like that, no, they were swinging in front of each other: Professor Snape's hand was on her back, with the palm open and the thumb that, without anyone could notice him, he stroked her with tiny movements. The other fingers were intertwined with hers, their elbows bent inward, along the side and they looked at each other.  
 _Fuck, life is too short and full of shit to worry about any other bullshit right now that doesn't have to do with Ria, Severus_ , he thought. The students, however, weren't paying much attention to the two of them: they had already been amazed to see Snape dancing with Charity Burbain during the Yule Ball and now it was no big news.

"It's a beautiful evening" Ria said, trying to break the silence. Severus's gaze was getting heavy, but not unwanted. There was something in his dark eyes, a fire he had never seen before, a vitality and a strength... _Good Gods._ She wanted it. And that desire was sweet.

"Splendid... indeed." The music continued. They continued to dance, closer and closer. Ria laughed lightly, a warm laugh. "What?" Severus asked. His face was serious, but not cold at all. There was no ice in his eyes. His hand on her back was warm.

"You wear teacher clothes even at parties..." Ria commented, but she didn't let him feel uncomfortable about that comment. "I like it. I like your… buttons” she added, sliding her right hand across his chest, stroking them one by one. His heart pounded in his chest like a gong in the jungle. “Do you want to know a secret? I only have some couples of dress, all of them are black. Some in cotton, for the summer and others in wool, for the winter. This is... just a transfiguration."

Severus took a deep breath, scolding himself for thinking, if only for a fleeting moment, into what else he could transfigure that item of clothing. "It's elaborate magic" he commented.

“I wanted to be beautiful. Suppose I succeeded?"

"Yes, I would say you succeeded... magnificently."

The music stopped. Only then did he finally realize how close they really were. Arianna's hand, warm and delicate on his chest, caressed the buttons of his jacket. His thumb almost touched the flawless skin on her bare back. He could even smell her hair and it was intoxicating and seductive and… _shit_.

Severus drew back with a short bow, thanking the black cloak that covered him and hid obvious signs of his masculinity. He couldn't make a show of his member at Slughorn's party! And what's more in front of Ria!

"Are you leaving the party already?" Ria asked him with a slightly disappointed expression on her face.

"I… I'm afraid so, Ria" he stated. He tried to make himself feel good, but she was...

"I accompany you. Can I accompany you? It would break my heart to leave you alone on a night like this."

Severus pondered the possibilities. His first instinct was to abruptly push her away, to tell her to stay away from him and his troubled and toxic life. It would probably break her heart, which he wasn't ready to do. He knew the expression of a friend wounded in feelings and, in some way, it also represented the very moment in which he had sentenced that friend to death. What if Ria died because of him? Broken by her sudden anger? He couldn't allow it. So he tried to find a justification, something plausible, but...

"Of course" he said. _Why? Why are you like this?_

But he hadn't resisted. It would never happen again to him to meet a woman willing to accompany him to his room. Together they walked towards the exit.  
No one saw them, no one cared about them except Hermione Granger, who noticed Professor Snape offering Professor d'Este his hand to climb the stairs. Maybe they hadn't arrived at the party together, but now they were leaving it together… Hermione pushed the memory of Ron and Lavender out of her mind, trying not to imagine the two teachers in the same position.

~~~

And there they were. Facing each other, facing the door of Severus's room. For some reason Arianna hadn't let go of his hand after they left the party and now Severus realized that their fingers were still together, intertwined like knots that were impossible to unravel. He sighed. The corridor was deserted and both could hear only the echo of their heavy breaths. There was a palpable tension in the air around them, while their eyes exchanged an infinite, eternal, passionate gaze, drowned in lust. There was so much that both of them wanted: to possess each other, to taste each other, to devour each other right into the depths of the soul.

"Do I have to go?" Ria asked. _Please tell me no, invite me in, invite me in._

 _Using Legilimacy is not the same as consent, Severus, keep that in mind._ "Do you want to stay?"

 _Shit. Shit, shit, yeah! I want it!_ "Do you want me to stay?"

He didn't need to think about it. "Yes." Severus opened the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Severus Snape/Original Female Character explicit smut

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender_   
_I could stay lost in this moment forever_

**_I Don't Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith_ **

As the door closed behind Severus, he dropped the cloak from his shoulders, leaving it on the floor. Ria was in the middle of his living room, her pochette resting on the coffee table by the fire, her bare shoulders turned to him. It was such a sensual line, that of her body, the body of a goddess carved in marble, strong and tenacious, but her skin was velvety and warm like fire, like the sun, like the desert, as the Indian Ocean, like the vineyards in summer and everything that ensnared his senses and bewitched his mind, with its intense perfume. Perfume. Severus walked over to her.

Arianna couldn't... She didn't have the strength to turn around. If she had done it and had seen Severus and his eyes injected with passion, his dark penetrating his soul, who owned her every feeling, she would have melt like snow in late winter. She was proud enough not to want to appear so desperate for him.

"What's my scent?" he asked. Ria's eyes widened in amazement. Then, only then, did she turn three-quarters. Her dark eyes remained planted on the floor, noting the slow, controlled movement of his boots as they approached her step by step.

"Dark chocolate" she whispered. Severus' right hand rested gracefully and delicately on her side, stroking her gently. A pleasant warmth filled her chest, like the blossoming of a rose in spring. The palm of the hand was large, rough even through her dress, but so pleasant... its roughness gave her a sense of mighty strength, with suppressed passion ready to explode. His thumb finally touched her bare flesh.

"Ogden whiskey."

"Um... I like Ogden" he asserted. Her skin was a drug he was already addicted to. It had been years since he had a woman in front of him who wanted him. It had probably never happened to him to hear so much lust in the voice of a creature so splendid and so willing to join him. Severus could feel the desire in every vibration of her words, on every inch of her body that shivered softly at his every delicate touch. His other hand reached her hair, only brushing her skin up to the elegant hairstyle. He untied her hair: Arianna's brown hair fell to her shoulders and she sighed. "What else, Ria?"

"Fine tobacco and..." _oh Severus, oh my gods, oh Merlin, oh sweet Circe! What are you doing to me? Oh, my love, you will break my heart._

"And..? What, Ria? Please tell me." _Tell me what you want, tell me, I'll give you everything. All myself, even if only for a single night._

“Sex, Severus. You smell like sex, my _gods_!"

Ria didn't have time to notice everything else. Hogwarts, the war, the school, the room, the fire… it all disappeared. She, in the throes of an intense thrill of pleasure, feeling both his hands on her trembling body, surrendered to that lust: Arianna tilted her head, closed her eyes and parted the lips of her beautiful mouth, welcoming Severus's with all his suppressed passion, ready to explode into an ocean of pleasure. He kissed her with all the desire he had slowly nourished in those months, in all those evenings spent together, quenching his thirst on her tongue caressing his lips with exhausting slowness. His right hand had slipped around the girl's neck, coming to gently encircle her chin. The left arm, on the other hand, encircled her hips like a snake sensually wrapped around her, a symbol of his lust, of all the greed he had for her, her mind, her body, everything that belonged to her. Severus had never had anything of his own: all his life he had fought hunger and cold in his childhood home, he had fought for his safety at Hogwarts, for Lily, for Voldemort, for Dumbledore, anything for anyone but nothing for himself. That night was dedicated to him, that night was dedicated to both of them: Severus and Arianna, two souls who belonged to each other, even if for such a short time.

"Ria" he whispered into her lips, like a prayer. She sighed and gently placed both hands on his shoulders.

"Severus. What do you want?" Ria never looked down. She would give him anything: herself for a night or a lifetime. Something, a dark and distant presentiment, told her she would be left heartbroken, but it didn't matter at the moment. The whole world belonged only to them and that would be their night.

"I want you" I want all of you.

"For how long?" forever, please.

Severus sighed. A hand went to move a lock of hair from the face of the beautiful creature that was giving herself to him and stopped on her perfect cheek. "Who cares."

And just like that, Severus pounced on Arianna again. Their mouths immediately opened against each other, their tongues sought each other with complete greed. She moaned at him and Severus was gradually losing all kinds of control. He pushed her to himself, against himself, one body against the other as a single form, a single essence.

"Merlin, yes," he whispered. The Ria's body, under that dress, was as if carved, perfect, a princess created for him by the gods! And he explored her, with his bare hands.

"Take off the dress. Take it off ”he ordered her, but his words sounded more like a plea than a command.

"Do it yourself."

Severus smiled. He really smiled. Yes, he would have bitten it off if necessary, but he wanted to enjoy every single moment of that single night.

"So impatient... so wild, so beautiful ... and you want to climb over my bed, slip under my sheets, give yourself to me."

Ria nodded at each word, her eyes shining in front of the flames of the fireplace and the total and disarming devotion in her gaze. “Take me, Severus. This night I'm yours."

That was his moment. Severus took her in his arms, lifted her in bridal style, with simple ease. There was a hardened body under those dark and heavy clothes, strong arms, crossed by tapered muscles, but made of steel and legs that for a lifetime supported him against the enemies, in the most fearful clashes and bore the scars of what had been its history up to that point. Ria had eyes only for him, his passionate lips, his strong but delicate hands at the same time, his regal face. There was so much to discover in Severus Snape and she didn't want to wait any longer.

~~~

Ria was sitting on his bed. A canopy in black ebony, surrounded by draped curtains in green silk and pure silver inserts. It was the only furniture that dominated the room, together with an iron and leather trunk in one corner, a desk just below the only window in the room and a bedside table, a small piece of furniture on which lay a forgotten lamp covered with dust. However, she hadn't had time to notice all these small details: Severus had made her sit on the bed, on the edge of the mattress, while he had knelt in front of her. Some might think that this was a submissive position, but Severus Snape had never been a submissive man, despite the beliefs of his two masters. He caressed Ria, slipped his expert fingers along the girl's naked ankle, knowing perfectly the female body, the techniques to seduce and bewitch it, to reduce that graceful and pure creature to a chaos of uncontrolled pleasure and sharp moans of lust. He found her shoe, the silver stiletto which he slipped off with delicate seduction, never looking down. He knew what he was doing, every movement was fit for the ultimate goal, to get everything from her, every sigh, every scream, every orgasm.  
Her shoes lay forgotten on the floor, one to the right and one to the left of the wizard. Ria had lost all rational thought. What was the use of thinking? No, that was the time to try, to experiment, to abandon your senses to that fluid of chemistry and passion that flowed unstoppably between them. Severus began to caress the tight-fitting dress of the young woman, observing every fold, every curve and every shape, yearning for every imperfection of her body, desiring her as she was: warm, carnal and sincere. He whispered: "Evanesco". The dress evaporated like a drop of mist carried away by the wind and Arianna showed herself in all her glory, naked and delicious.

Severus would have liked to sink his mouth into every crease of his body, kiss every inch of skin and savor it all the way… and he would, yes, he would. He didn't have to ask her anything: Arianna slowly opened her legs for him. The smell of her wet pussy, smooth and soft like a delicious dessert was intense, sweet and sour and magical. Calm, Severus, you have time he had to keep repeating himself. It wasn't necessary to bite into that perfect pussy eagerly and hungrily: Ria was there for him anyway, she wouldn't have run anywhere. She was his to taste, to dominate, to fuck. And he would do it, but not too soon... it had been a few years since the last time and he had no intention of allowing that night to end too quickly. Severus rose to his knees, between the young woman's legs, sinking his hands on her thighs. Maybe next day Ria would get the bruises of that mighty grip, but what importance could it have? It would only be the signs of their passion, the memory of that moment.

Arianna continued to caress his chest, still covered; she wanted nothing more than to undress him and admire him in all his unconventional beauty. How could she have known that under those heavy clothes there was a white marble body if she couldn't see it, touch it, worship it with her fingers and her lips? Ria wanted only that: to show him how wonderful he was, always and anyway. "You're still dressed..." she whispered, starting to unbutton his jacket. A button, then another: he was tense and anxiously waiting for something, even if he didn't know what to expect. “I want to touch you, Severus, I want to make you feel good. Will you let me?"

Severus had to hold his breath for a second, stay in control. His hands wandered over her body, gripping her hips as his mouth came dangerously close to her neck. Severus kissed her, drew a line of light and fiery kisses on her skin, velvety as silk, but warm as the embers of his fireplace. Ria breathed intensely, surrendered to him and to the pleasure he gave her with so little touch. The palms of his hands stopped just below her breasts, breasts that she could have covered entirely with his large hands, but which he only teased with his fingertips. His thumbs touched the tips of her swollen, sensitive nipples like tiny diamonds. Ria trembled under his expert touch. "What kind of dirty thoughts are running through your mind, my little witch, huh?" he said, finally looking up at her. “Show me. Legilimens."

_«Severus was standing, facing the bed, naked. His body was like a star in the night, the only thing Ria could focus on. She was on her knees, in front of him and her mouth prayed to him, open for him, warm and soft, wet and in love with his big, fat cock, which dominated her from above like a blessing. And she didn't wait for his permission: Arianna took it between her lips, wet it completely and swallowed it, stroking it with her soft tongue, sucking it greedily as if it were the fountain of youth. She practically choked on his cock, took it all in her mouth, up to her throat and he moaned, he growled, his hand went down on her, stroked her hair as if to compliment her and enjoyed. He enjoyed madly and gave himself up to all that pleasure, ending up in her mouth, feeling her swallow all its nectar, the seed of life.»_

He could no longer contain himself. His cock relegated to his pants now begged for mercy and freedom, Severus could no longer escape that enjoyment! With his strong hands he made Ria lie down in the middle of her bed, allowing himself a second to admire her, while with a gesture of the hand his buttons (those of her jacket, his sleeves, his ankles) unfastened one after the other. and his clothes slipped off his body under the gaze of Arianna, bewitched, bewitched and devoted to him, only to him. With an enormous effort of courage, Severus stood in front of her, for a moment, covered only by his underpants, but he didn't give her any more time: the dark wizard crawled on the bed, in front of her, between her legs and his swift hands gripped her hips, lifting them. His fingers gripped her ass tightly. She could no longer escape, he was a demon thirsting for her virtue. Severus' tongue slid over her, from her narrow entrance to her turgid and sensitive clitoris, collecting all her sweet juices on her tip, all that mead she was getting them drunk with.

"Is this for me? This beautiful…”  
His tongue sank inside her, rolled inside her pussy, filled her and left her empty and desperate again, while Arianna moaned at the same time with pleasure and pain.  
"...tight..."  
His lips closed on his clitoris, kissed her noisily and his low moans made her vibrate like a piano string. Arianna sang like a siren, screaming her pleasure and bewitching him with her voice.  
"...little cunt, uhm... so fucking sweet."  
Severus continued his expert administration: the tongue dedicated to the small clitoris and two of his fingers penetrated her pussy all the way, immediately finding its point of maximum pleasure, making her fly quickly towards orgasm.

Arianna moaned and trembled, her every sound was music for the man kneeling in her midst, the man who was tasting her. “Oh sweet Circe! _Yes_ , Severus, that's it, don't stop, let me come! Oh _gods_! I beg you, let me come!" she screamed and how could he deny such a pious prayer? At that moment, for a single moment of his life, Severus felt like God, capable of granting or denying bliss and he would be merciful to her.

“Come for me” he whispered on her cunt. She came. Severus felt her pussy throbbing around his fingers, squeezing him in uncontrollable spasms and Ria's breathing stop, for a split second, holding all that pleasure inside him, and even though it had lasted so short, it felt like a eternity.

"Please, Severus, come here, inside me" she pleaded again. It was so easy to give himself to her, much more than one could imagine: Severus was not an egoist, he liked to give, every gesture was aimed at that and in his eyes Ria recognized the pride, the desire to see her melt under of him, the need to know he was doing the right thing, that he was the lover she really wanted. Arianna hugged him and there was no better feeling than their bodies rubbing against each other, the skin-to-skin sensation they were experiencing. She inhaled deeply, intoxicated by his perfume, he kissed her constantly and his tireless mouth covered her with bites and red marks on her neck, shoulders, everywhere. When the tip of his hard cock dripping with pre-seminal fluid met her cunt, Severus moaned, pressing his lips to hers to stifle the sound. Ria dug her nails into his back, ran them up to his hips and encouraged him, pushing him all the way into her. He filled it completely.

"Oh fuck, _so good_!" she moaned, rubbing her crotch against his, preventing him from leaving. Severus had no more words, nothing more to say, only growls, and moans, and sighs, and his mouth biting her lips, while Arianna finally let him move within that paradise. Her pussy was really tight and perfect, made for him, made for his hard, aching cock. He began to move inside her: he came out slowly, savoring every moment, and then he went back in with strength and speed, until he felt that pussy throbbing around him as the head of his cock reached her cervix. Gods, yes, oh thank you! He was so grateful to her! How long had he not felt such bliss!

"Severus... I'm... about to come!" suddenly she exclaimed! How long had he been fucking her? He had lost all measure of time, he could have stayed in that bed for eternity.

"No, I want to see you" he whispered.

With a quick movement of the hips the two reversed their positions. Severus was sitting in the middle of the bed, Arianna was on his lap, her legs spread, her clit against his belly and her pussy full of his cock. "Yes, exactly. Move for me and look at me. Look at me as you come” he ordered, grabbing her hard, pushing himself inside her, filling her completely. Ria nodded with her face contorted with pleasure, her mouth wide open in a desperate cry of passion and she came again, intensely, showing herself in all her sinful beauty. In the end, feeling her tremble on him, looking into her eyes and seeing all that longing, all that devotion and that lust, he too abandoned himself: Severus came, his rich cum filled her, extinguished every fire and finally appeased the desire.

He brought her close to him, so as not to allow her to see how ruined he was because of her: he was a broken man. He had never felt… that, whatever that feeling was. Not even with Lily... and he loved her, damn it! He loved Lily! Or at least he had imagined that that had to be love, because that was the feeling, right? Yet with her his heart had never beaten so hard and he had never needed to cry with emotion and he hadn't felt that desire to grab her and hold her tight, naked against his own naked body. Lily was like an angel, distant and elusive, an ethereal vision. Ria was there, she was flesh and blood, she was a beating heart, breaths and perfumes, she was alive and full of life, passion, tenacity. Like an unstoppable force of nature, she had invaded his life and now, while he held her to his chest, feeling her smile against his skin and relax, abandoning herself to a sweet sleep, he no longer knew what to think of love. He decided he wouldn't think about it at all: Severus lay down and Ria slid to his left.

She was falling asleep: perhaps all this would last only one night and the next morning she would have to be ready for his refusal. There was a possibility that it would happen, but she didn't want to think about it at all. She only hoped she had given him a crumb of the feeling she had come to have for him. It wasn't just affection anymore, it probably had never been. There was so much in him that Severus couldn't see: brilliant intelligence, courage and a sensitivity, imperceptible in the eyes of those who didn't know how to look beyond the mask of anger that the man wore every day. There was so much pain that she wanted to erase. Eventually, feeling Severus finally relax to her right, she turned, turning her back to his warm chest and stroking the black mark on his arm, just before falling asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after.  
> Arianna has no doubts, Severus on the contrary...

_When the rain is pouring down_   
_And my heart is hurting_   
_You will always be around_   
_This I know for certain_

**_No one - Alicia Keys_ **

Severus was sitting in front of the Black Lake. His bare feet were immersed in the cold water up to the ankle, his patched trousers were rolled up to the knee. He swung his legs back and forth, observing the folds of the water. The Slytherin cloak on his shoulders kept him warm and a ray of warm sunlight illuminated his face.

"Looks like Snivellus found the girl too, James."  
That voice behind him was more than familiar, and it was hateful. Severus turned to see Sirius Black and James Potter on his left, standing next to him.

"Go away, leave me alone!" he yelled. The two jumped back.

“It's okay, Snivellus, no one will hurt you this time. I mean, after all, now you have more to think about than just mulling over us” James stated. The two sat down next to him, one on each side. "And I don't have to fight over Lily's attention anymore."

"Lily is my best friend and you're a damn bastard!"

"Calm down, Snivellus!" Black insisted "You don't wanna fight, I hope."

"He can't help himself, Padfoot, what can we do?" James and Severus looked into each other's eyes. "We're dead, Snape, you're not, maybe this should matter to you... _Man_ , are you still thinking about Lily when you have a gorgeous naked woman in your bed?"

“What are you doing, James, our Snivelly is full of problems! What a pity we aren't alive anymore! Would have been fun..."

James shook his head, his expression darkening. "Why don't you start taking care of your life instead of cursing ours?"

Sirius put a hand on his back. “In the end, I assure you, everyone dies, _baby boy_. At least you could try to live, couldn't you?" He pushed him into the water and...

...Severus woke up.  
It was just dawn and his bed was empty. He remembered Ria asleep next to him, her fingers around his arm and her caresses on Voldemort's black mark… what a strange feeling. He had been too tired to fully understand what he was doing and now that he could remember it clearly, he wondered what it could possibly mean. Besides, Ria seemed to have disappeared. He wasn't surprised: why should she decide to stay? He wasn't ideal... but it had been so beautiful, even just for one night. Severus found himself stroking the part of the bed where she had slept and it was still warm; perhaps this was why he had woken up, perhaps he had perceived her moving away from him. After so many years he should have been used to waking up alone in his own bed, but damn it, it never stopped hurting so much. Tears began to slip silently down her cheeks. Why was he so hard to love? It was probably just fate, cruel fate.

The bathroom door to his right opened. Severus turned to his right, with sudden apprehension: Ria was there, wrapped in a white towel, one of his own, and with her hair still damp from the shower she had just taken. He had to rub his eyes and open them again to believe that Arianna was there, still there.

" _Fuck_ , I didn't want to wake you up, it's still early" she whispered, stopping halfway between the bathroom and the bed, seeing that Severus had woken up. He said nothing and stared at her, as if wondering what the heck she was still doing in his room. "I... well I really needed to wash, I was sweaty and... but now I'm going back to my room, I suppose?"

"Is it a question? Or a statement?" he replied, his voice still asleep. _Stay, please._

Ria shrugged. "You tell me."

Severus knew he was crossing a dangerous line between casual sex and personal feeling, but could he deny himself that bliss now that he had finally found some joy and relief? Of course it was just an illusion, it wouldn't last, but at least for a while, just for a while, he could tell himself that all of this was real, that she would stay forever, that Ria was really there for him anyway and whatever happens. So he said, "Come back to bed." She smiled, dropped the towel and went back to bed.

Arianna lay down beside him, covering herself with the thick sheets up to her chest. The sunlight, in some way, changed the atmosphere: now they were naked, uncovered and unprotected, in the early hours of the day. Severus had a rested face and perhaps it was the first time she saw him like this: relaxed, rested, even slightly muffled by the sweet sleep he had abandoned himself the previous night. She smiled without him looking at her: Severus looked at the ceiling, without saying anything. Ria was happy, immensely happy, but she was afraid it wasn't the same for him. Knowing him, that look was the look of a man who tortured himself with questions and doubts, who wallowed in his own insecurities. As if he really had something to fear with her...

"It was wonderful" she whispered. Severus turned. The shy blush on his cheeks made him look even younger: although he was just over thirty-five, at that moment he looked like a kid to Ria. He had never had a woman in his bed who wanted to… love him somehow? “You know I am sincere. I mean, you are a legilimes, aren't you?"

Severus said nothing, he didn't know what to say. Not only was she staying, but she was complimenting him! Arianna had just told him that that night had been wonderful and even the tremor in her voice at those words was sincere, the shivers running down her skin and her desire… nothing from the previous night had vanished. Severus had believed that there must have been some other explanation and instead no, there was nothing else, she only wanted him because he was ... himself. "You're a fool" he whispered, stroking her face with the back of his fingers. “Don't you know who I am? Don't you know what I've done? I'm a Death Eater, Ria. I am... a bitter, tired, unscrupulous man. You will never be happy with me."

Arianna laughed and closed her eyes, placing her face on the palm of Severus' hand, who couldn't really push her away, even knowing that would be the only right thing to do. “For being an absolute genius, you are really stupid Severus. Do you really think I don't know what risks I can take? Do you really think these words are enough to convince me to leave you alone? Severus, I think I know you enough to be able to make my own decision. If you want me to leave, I'll do it, I'll respect your choice, but if you want me here… don't feel guilty that my life is in danger too, because it would be anyway."

He sighed, surrendering to her and was never happier to feel defeated. "No one must know" he stated.

"What a pity..." Ria sighed, smiling, "I couldn't wait to scream to the whole world that I'd just had the best sex of my life with Severus Snape. I'm afraid I'll have to wait for the war to end."

"The best" he repeated under his breath, as if he didn't believe a single word of what he said.

“Um, actually… I should be sure. Maybe I should check better, I could be wrong." He looked at her spellbound and defeated. She smiled at him with malice and Severus... Where had Arianna been all that time? Why was everything happening so fast? The day before he was alone like a mongrel dog and the next day he had a gorgeous naked woman in his bed who, not only had she given herself to him the night before, but still wanted him! “What do you say, Professor Snape? Could you help me with a… review?"

Arianna found herself squashed on the bed, between the pillows and blankets, with Severus' mouth on every inch of skin before she could say anything else.

Part of Ria wondered if that was really all true. In the three days following that fiery night, she and Severus separated only to escape public opinion: they chatted peacefully during lunches and dinners, in which fewer and fewer students showed up, who were gradually returning home for the Christmas holidays. Dumbledore gave Arianna a larger quarters, as she would have to stay at Hogwarts daily from then on due to the Death Eaters attack. Although she felt immensely missing her job, she was happy about it: she was able to take care of the school, her students, her role in the Order and Severus... they spent every possible moment together, protected inside their room. Or rather, in Severus's room. He was much more cuddly than anyone could have imagined: touch-starved, desperately in need of love. Ria had absolutely nothing to complain about.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Christmas Day, friends become enemies. Arianna is only looking for Severus and he is happy to welcome her.

_Ev'ry night when the sun goes down_   
_Just another lonely boy in town_   
_And she's out runnin' 'round_

**_Tequila sunrise - Eagles_ **

_Christmas Eve, 1996_

"I was invited to spend Christmas with the Order in London" Ria whispered, stroking Severus' hair, who was lying on her, with his face resting on her breast. He breathed. "You have also been invited."

"Don't make me tell you what you already know."

"Nobody should be alone at Christmas."

“You know the risk and I'm not going to take it. Besides, why would I want to spend Christmas with them?"

Ria stiffened, he shifted to his side. Her gaze was vaguely offended, but Severus couldn't really understand why; it's not like he said anything personal about it.

"Maybe because you might want to spend it with me" she said angrily. Severus paused for a long time. He was looking for the right words to say. There was always something he hid from her, something he didn't intend to tell her, something he felt he had to protect even from her and Ria hated admitting it.

"I can't" he stated.

Arianna sighed and nodded, wondering if at the end of all that, if they had survived the war, if everything had ended in the best way, the two of them could have stayed together. She had been used to surviving alone: she was a woman who had never needed to ask anyone for help and now, now that it made more sense than ever to stay unattached to any romantic relationship, she craved that feeling. It was more than just desire, it was more than lust and it was more than friendship. Ria refused to elaborate on that thought: she knew she was too transparent for him and she would never want to push him away, scare him with the intensity of her feelings for him, so she fell silent. However, he seemed very clear about it: it was just sex and he had warned her. _You'll never be happy with me_. Did it mean he would never love her? Ria got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" he asked, in an authoritative tone, but with a vaguely confused look.

Ria kept calm, pulling the green sheet around her chest to cover herself. "In my room" she replied. "Christmas is tomorrow and..." the bell tower of Hogwarts chimed midnight, interrupting the young woman and announcing Christmas. She sighed, looking at Severus. There was a warmth in his gaze she had never seen before, something that warmed her heart, even if she didn't want to admit it. He got out of bed, putting on his pants and walked over to her, taking her face in his hands. Severus kissed her. His mouth rested delicately on hers, like two rose petals placed on her lips by the wind, as a caress of love. The kiss was slow and moving: Ria felt her heart tremble as he seemed to get closer and closer, to breathe her perfume and savor her mouth. Yet it didn't last long enough.

"Merry Christmas, Arianna" Severus whispered into her mouth. They wouldn't exchange any gifts, they knew it didn't matter. Nothing would have meant as much as the time they spent together and Severus had tried to make her understand with that kiss. Oh he spoke fluent sarcasm, but he wasn't that good with words when it came to...

"Merry Christmas, Severus."

Outside it began to snow slowly: the glow of the dying moon illuminated the window and the snowflakes appeared like perfect crystals in the black night sky. When Ria shivered, still naked under the thin blanket, Severus lit the fire in the fireplace with a wave of his hand, then hugged her.

"What will you do tomorrow when I'll be gone to Grimmaud Place?" Ria asked him, sighing and listening to his heartbeat on his chest.

"I'll sit by the fire, watching the snow and waiting for you to come back." Arianna smiled. After all, he would have waited for her.

~~~

The Christmas lunch was long, indeed infinite. Number 12 of Grimmaud Place was a claustrophobic, dusty place filled with memories of other times, of a bygone era in which pureblood families ruled as dictators in the wizarding world. At times Arianna felt out of place, like a foreigner in an unknown land. There was no taste of family in that Christmas full of hidden tension, of fear hidden among worried smiles. Molly Weasley was a woman of infinite kindness and had welcomed her warmly, but Ria felt uncomfortable. The kids were wild, Fred and George enjoyed sharing their crazy, crackling new products with Ronald, Ginny and Harry, while Hermione had decided to spend the Christmas holidays with her Muggle parents. She had sent a letter. Harold, the Weasleys' owl, had slipped into the chimney to be able to deliver the letter. Ronald had appeared particularly apprehensive: he had wanted to read the letter first and his brothers had continued to tease him, threatening to tell everything to Lavender, who did not seem to have received even a Christmas card from Ron. Ron had been too busy trying to get between his best friend and his only sister to think about his girlfriend. Ria had ignored the gift exchange she hadn't attended (until the previous year she barely had the money to look after herself and her shop and certainly couldn't give handmade weapons to the entire Order of the Phoenix!) And she had cheerfully toasted, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, but continually wondering what she was doing there.

"...and like every year Severus is the only one not to accept our invitation! A real shame, isn't it, Molly?" Arthur Weasley commented at some point in the early afternoon. Ria woke from the torpor of the wine and looked up, captured by the name that had revived her attention.

Molly Weasley sighed, waving her wand to pick up the dirty lunch plates. "It's useless to insist, dear, I don't think I've ever had pleasure..."

"Why on earth would he come? He looks so good in his dungeons!" Ronald commented. All the boys grinned. Ria pursed her lips and looked down.

"Can you imagine Snape locking himself in his coffin and going back to sleep like an overgrown bat in the basement of Hogwarts?" Harry exclaimed laughing.

Molly patted him on the head with the kitchen rag, but no one had the decency to hold back the laughter... Lupin admonished the students not to disrespect one of their professors ( _Severus is a member of the Order, after all, and his preparation is certainly more than excellent_ ) but he had to cover his amused smile with one hand. Ria had held back her tears out of respect for Severus, who certainly wouldn't have wanted to be publicly pitied, even if there was no pai or mercy among Ria's feelings. On the contrary, there was attention and understanding, listening and esteem. Eventually she got up from the table and walked out the back in silence, looking out into the small inner garden for a breath of fresh air. London was chaotic, cars sped by, lights were dazzling and every street was overflowing with shops. In the streets you could hear the sound of bells and Christmas carols, horns and families strolling frantically on the sidewalks. There, in the garden of Grimmaud Place, peace reigned: all noise had disappeared and only the soft muffled sound of snow remained, the snow that fell gracefully from the sky and covered the earth.

Tonks was the first, and perhaps the only one, to notice her old schoolmate's unease. Seeing Ria leave her post with so much apprehension, she turned to her boyfriend. "Arianna is very fond of Snape... I think it has to do with what happened at school. I always had the feeling that Snape was somehow protective of her."

Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head in amazement. "Severus... are you sure?" Lupin certainly had never had the opportunity to notice that aspect of Severus... Also because he himself had never shown any sense of humanity and understanding towards a human being. Sirius had always confabulated with ardent conviction of Snape's innate wickedness and meanness, to the point of justifying himself for those actions that... Remus shook his head, didn't want to remember that night, the night he still regretted. Severus still bore him deep grudge (and for the Gods! Severus should have begun to behave like an adult, in his opinion) but he was indeed deeply ashamed.

"Go talk to her... You're good at this kind of things, I'm such a disaster" Tonks asked him. He tried to argue, but he had never been good at saying no. To James and Sirius, after all, had never denied anything. Remus dropped his wine glass and walked out.

Ria heard the door on her left timidly open, creak around its hinges and then close behind him. Remus was beside her, hands tucked into the pockets of his battere, coarse wool cardigan. It must have been very old, because he shrugged as if he was quite cold. " _Calidi_ " Ria whispered, pulling out her wand. Remus suddenly acquired an invigorated complexion.

"I must remember this spell... I'm used to cold nights" he commented with a bitter smile. Ria nodded, looking back at the deserted garden.  
Remus sighed. "I guess you don't really feel comfortable with us, Dora understood that first, but I want you to be aware that there is no cruelty in our jokes. Severus is a member of the Order like any of us and for this we take into consideration his..."

"His incredible propensity for sacrifice? Or his intelligence? Or maybe his concern for the weakest... But I don't think you know that. I guess you never gave him the opportunity to prove it." Ria raised her eyebrows questioningly, identifying herself too much with those words. Then she sighed and shook her head.

When she moved to go back inside, Remus stopped her, grabbing her by the arm. "Arianna, you must not forget the role Severus played in both wars. He has his sins to atone for. Don't just trust what appears to the eye. Severus certainly works for Dumbledore, but that doesn't make him an innocent man."

The young woman's gaze turned to stone. "How long does a man stay guilty? I wonder if he ever had another opportunity, a different choice... You all had been just boys, just like them" she stated, pointing to Harry and the Weasleys "and how can you blame a lost boy, someone who perhaps had never had another way forward? No, Remus. You don't know _anything_ about Severus."

Remus sighed, letting go of Arianna, seeing her visibly blush and warm during the conversation. Offense and indignation grew in her and all that fire, all that inexplicable anger... he recognized it. He had often seen that in James's eyes, that piercing nervousness that devoured him every time Lily chose Severus over him, every time she ignored him for "that stunted viper", as he called the Slytherin boy. A hot passion. Something that devoured him from within. Over the years, they would learn to call it jealousy, but for Arianna was different. That wasn't jealousy, but love. Pure, unconditional and blind, desperately blind love. "He will never love you, he will never be able to" Remus whispered.

Ria turned away, her eyes full of tears and her cheeks marked by cascades of pain. Those words hurt, hurt her more than anything else, more than the beating she'd gotten from Dolohov, more than anything she'd suffered when she was just a girl, in the school corridors. Those words were so painful especially because Arianna had no certainty that they were not true, even if she had no intention of believing them. "Don't you dare decide who I should give permission to break my heart, Remus Lupin. I'm a grown woman, I can make my own mistakes!" she hissed angrily, raising a finger at him accusingly, before rushing inside the house and running to the nearest fireplace.

~~~

Severus was sitting in an armchair in front of the fire. Christmas that year seemed particularly cold: a strong north wind tormented the towers of the castle and blew through the cracks and crevices in the rock, creating annoying drafts and disturbing noises, to which he paid little attention. The hot tea on his table warmed him, along with the crackling flames in the fireplace, and the book on his lap, which barely kept him company. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to mull over the strange and ancient feelings that awoke in his broken soul when he thought of Ria and fantasized about those evenings spent together. It wasn't just sex, which was passionate and intense anyway, full of uncontrollable desire and lust, sometimes wild, but so full of conflicting emotions and sincere and desperate feelings. There was more: there were whole evenings spent playing chess (and it was so funny to see her despair with every checkmate of him!), there were all those heated discussions about potions and experiments, dark spells and mischievous projects that she confided in him in great secrecy, awakening some tricks of her peculiar trade. There were the silent and shy confessions they had exchanged, building a deep, honest friendship... There was so much more and that scared him to death. Perhaps it frightened him even more than Voldemort himself. There was a profound danger in indulging in certain feelings, but he couldn't help it. It was a drug he couldn't give up, all that... All that love. All that love that was offered to him for free, without having to do anything in return, without having to pay dearly for it, without having to beg for it with an infinite string of sacrifices and privations. To love only for the pleasure of doing it, to love only for the desire to give, to give and to give without ever asking. This she did: she gave, gave everything. He was immensely grateful to her. He had never felt so young, so strong, so...

There was a knock on the door, three times. No one had ever bothered him at Christmas. Severus checked his watch: it was only half past three in the afternoon and it certainly couldn't have been Arianna, otherwise she would have given up on dessert. Severus approached the door cautiously and with a vague feeling of nervousness, but when he opened the door he was stunned for a moment.

"Ria..." he whispered "it's still so early, I didn't think I'd see you until..."

"I couldn't stay and I know you hate being interrupted, but I need to tell you before the words escape me" she sobbed, letting the tears slide bravely down her cheeks, crashing to the ground like rain. It wasn't childish sadness, those were the tears of a woman ready to fight. "I don't care if I come out of this with a broken heart. I don't care about the risks. They can kidnap me, torture me, beat me, they can try to break me, but until then, my place is with you, by your side, if you want to..."

Severus bit his cheek to avoid collapsing in front of her, moved by those words so desperate, but so sincere. He grabbed her and pulled her to him, closing the door. Ria was his and he was more than happy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Severus' birthday and all he wants is a day with no stubborn students. Arianna pleases him and earns the trust of one of his snakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Severus Snape/Original Female Character oral sex and mention of spanking

_I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight_  
_You're getting me, getting me through the night_

**_Flashlight - Jessie J_ **

_January 9, 1997_

Twenty days. Twenty days whose nights were spent almost all in her company. It was strange, but wonderfully comforting not to fall asleep alone, Severus thought. Falling asleep next to Ria, after having had sex for a long time, after having exhausted all strength and having surrendered to fatigue, was simple and sweet, it was a real relief. The winter was cold, like the breath of a dementor, while she was warm, soft and tasted like honey. During that Christmas, he had given himself permission to dream of a glimmer of hope for himself and had clung to that illusion with all his might: it was easier to surrender to her than to have to sink into his self-pity every day.

That morning Severus woke up with a different sensation on his skin. A slight but extremely pleasant tickle ran through his body, from the chest he felt burning, to the groin, where a sensation of hot, erotic moisture was blooming around his erect member, hard as marble, almost aching with desire to come. Instinctively, Severus reached out a hand towards his cock, in an attempt to caress it, but when he reached his thigh, his hand met another. The dark wizard's eyes widened and held a worried breath, only to immediately realize that there was absolutely nothing he needed to worry about: Ria was between his legs, her ass raised in the air and her lips wrapped around his cock, as she choked on it, covering it with hot saliva.

"Oh _shit_ " he breathed in, reclining his head on the pillow and lifting his hips, meeting her mouth, her soft tongue, her fingers wrapped around his balls and the base of his cock, to throttle him until every single drop of pleasure. Severus was at the limit of endurance when Arianna raised her mouth with a satisfied smile.

"Good morning my..."

"Do _not_ dare!" he barked. With one hand he grabbed Arianna on the back of her neck and pushed her back against his crotch, while with the other hand he directed the head of his cock back into her mouth, pushing it up to her throat and moaning intensely. "Yes! Don't stop!" he breathed angrily. Growling, Severus fucked his young woman's mouth. Eventually his balls spasmed and his cock sprayed all the warm, rich sperm into her throat, while Ria swallowed it all, to the last drop, joyfully welcoming his semen.  
Severus sighed.

"Happy fucking birthday to me" he whispered, realizing a moment later the mistake he made. Ria looked at him with wide eyes and her mouth wide open. “Shut your mouth, Ria. You have a little left of..."

Ria slapped him on the thigh and lay down beside him laughing. "How old are you now, Professor Snape?" she asked flirtatiously, blinking and smiling.

He shook his head. "You are inopportune, Miss d'Este. Have you ever been taught that it's rude to ask for the age of one of your professors?"

Ria bent down on him, she kissed his neck just below the earlobe. "I was so rude, professor... should I be punished?"

Severus shifted his gaze to get a good look at her eyes, to make sure it wasn't all just a joke, but Ria was serious, with eyes full of lust and her lips still wet from all those kisses they had exchanged during the night. He made her lie on her stomach on the bed and knelt beside her on the mattress. He lowered himself to her, bringing his lips to her ear and whispering. "You're absolutely right, Miss d'Este... you'll know how old I am, when you've finished counting" and with that, Severus hit her on the ass with an open hand slap. Arianna moaned, whispering one and worrying, because she knew it wouldn't be a short punishment.

After thirty-six spanks, Ria and Severus had to get out of bed and get ready for the day. He laughed all the time during breakfast, noticing her squirming in her chair, suffering in every position. Even the Slytherins marveled at the unusual good humor of their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

~~~

There was a single thing that Severus had wished for his birthday and he had confessed to Ria, before leaving the room. "The only thing that could make this day perfect would be not seeing Potter, Granger, none of the Weasleys and honestly, not even Malfoy!" he had yelled before leaving, so Ria had decided to please him.

Severus was absent, leaving the classroom without advance and allowing the young teacher to replace him. Nobody complained. She explained the defensive spells, touching the realm of the Dark Arts when she suggested to the students that, after all, the _Protego diabolica_ was also protection spell, but with good results. Some students were better prepared than others: Hermione Granger even seemed bored with the lesson. Then, towards the last few minutes, the lesson was running out and Ria approached the end of the lesson. “Some protection spells are not offensive, as _Protego_ may seem in its most violent meanings. As you all know, summoning a patronus is actually a protection spell, and assuming you all know how to summon one, for the next lesson I want four pages of parchment about the patrono's uses and how your patrono's shape is linked to you."

Everyone sighed in exhaustion, all but a few subjects, who for the most part left the classroom. Ria stood watching Malfoy, the last one left in the class, who gave her a doubtful look before heading to the classroom exit.

"I expect the complete assignment from everyone, Mr. Malfoy" Ria commented. The boy stopped halfway and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but your ridicolous assignment is of no interest to me right now" he hissed sourly. Arianna sighed and gestured for him to come closer. He didn't move.

“Draco I ain't the enemy. I am a teacher, I have to make sure that my students are always safe, that they don't get into trouble, that they don't make the wrong choices." He looked up at her and Arianna thought she saw a deep suffering and a sad resignation. She motioned for him to come closer and this time he gave up. Arianna took the bag from his shoulders, laid it on the floor and smiled at him. “Let's try, Draco. Let's try to summon a patronus, come on." Her voice was reassuring, one of the few friendly voices he remembered. Draco pulled out his wand and sighed. "The patronus, in his most powerful expression, has a bodily form and manifests himself as an animal, a creature linked to the personality of the magician who evoked him and the memory that the magician used to evoke him. It is mainly used against dementors as they prefer to feed on the patronus rather than… kiss their own victims, I'm sure you know what I mean." Draco nodded, head down. Arianna continued. "Now I'll show you mine." She raised her wand and closed her eyes.

_«Severus caresses her face. They are naked, the sun has just risen. It's the first day of January 1997. They had sex under the covers, slowly, looking into each other's eyes. He came whispering her name like a sweet prayer._  
_"Severus, what are you thinking about?"_  
_"You."_  
_"And what do you think of me?"_  
_"I think you're beautiful."»_

" _Expecto patronum_ " Arianna whispered. A dazzling white light appeared from the tip of her wand and took the perfect shape of a fawn with a spotted coat and slender legs, which immediately began to jump around the room. The fawn walked with gaiety towards Draco and then disappeared like a cloud of smoke. Draco was delighted. He had never seen a patrono so close, so bright, so majestic. "The words are simple, but the spell can be complicated if you can't remember something particularly happy. Try to remember something very intense, good and happy, something that made you feel… special. Try it, Draco."

The boy took a deep breath. What had ever made him feel happy? He had never really been happy a single day of his life. Not even finding his first wand had been a great thrill, after all he had always known he was a wizard. The only thing he was sure of was that his father should have been completely absent in that memory.

_«His mother's voice. He had to think about his mom's voice._  
_"Hush, little baby, don't say a word,_  
_Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird._  
_If that mockingbird don't sing,_  
_Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring._  
_If that diamond ring turns to brass,_  
_Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cat._  
_If that horse and cat falls down,_  
_You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."_  
_Mom...»_

A butterfly appeared from the tip of Draco's wand. Arianna clapped her hands in approval, while the boy was fascinated. “Very good Draco! You summoned a patronus with ease!" she exclaimed and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. For the first time since the start of the school year, Draco smiled. “For the next lesson, I want you to write the essay too. Let me know why you think this patronus is related to you and your memory and… what are the uses of the patronus in defensive magic, in depth. Great job, my boy."

Draco nodded without adding anything. Ria left the classroom hoping to have given him some relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❗The butterfly is a symbol of change and elevation both internal and external. Ideally it would mean the hope for change that exists in Draco's heart, who probably would have chosen something different for himself if he could.  
> ❗The fawn is obviously related to Snape's patronus. Obviously it is canonically linked to Lily's, but in this case I would like to give it a new meaning. From the beginning of the 1981 school year it is clear that Arianna has always had a great respect for Severus. In him, she has always seen a security, someone capable of protecting her and a point of reference for growing and improving. In this sense, the fawn looks for the doe. At the same time, the doe is protective of her cub and accompanies him to maturity.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus begins to struggle to keep his secrets. He therefore decides to tell Arianna the story of his life, but only until the death of Lily, who's apparently his only, true love.

_I tried but could not bring_   
_The best of everything_   
_Too breathless then to wonder_   
_I died a thousand times_   
_Found guilty of no crime_   
_Now everything is thunder_

**_Let me go - Heaven 17_ **

_March 1997_

Months went by. Severus and Arianna continued to secretly cultivate their relationship, which somehow deepened. There was an unequivocal undertanding, animated by the desire to be together, to consult each other and to indulge in their own interests without shame, without having to hide their little sins. The innate talent of both of them in the Dark Arts wasn't a taboo or a cause for shame: there was no cruelty in their hearts, only the Slytherin desire for knowledge. Then their evenings passed quietly, playing chess and reading for a long time. Severus had continued to sleep little, but the reason was different now. Despite everything, he was still a young man, a strong wizard: in the last few months he had gained weight, he felt better, more resistant, more tenacious. Even Minerva had realized that, suddenly, Severus had begun to eat with gusto and voracity, especially at breakfast. No one had ever seen Snape gulp down two omelettes and a portion of ham at eight thirty in the morning, but if they had known how he had spent the night, they would not have been surprised.

Ria was radiant. She had always been charming, with her young and mischievous face, even with her stern and incorruptible bearing, but now, at times, she looked dreamy and, outside her classroom, it was easy to see her smiling, all alone while she lost herself in the most frivolous thoughts. Sure, war was approaching, she knew it. She suffered from the lack of her job, but she was training her students to protect themselves and to fight against her own weapons, of that she was proud. Severus had insisted that she train and fight too, so he'd made her spend the weekend reviewing Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Forget the books, they are useless" he had told her, entrusting her with his notes "use these, you can't go wrong". She had learned a lot, she had become good. Severus was frightened by the idea of her getting hurt, she could see him, but Ria was determined: she would have been willing to kill anyone to prevent that war from denying them a future together.

~~~

"I _SWEAR_ this year is worse than the year of Hell!" Snape roared, slamming the door to his room. Ria was already there, sitting in an armchair with a book on her lap.

"Which one is the year of Hell?"

" _GILDEROY LOCKHART_!"

Arianna couldn't hold back her laughter, partly because of Severus’s neurotic reaction and partly because the man, despite having a deep hatred of Umbridge, considered Lockhart the worst of all evils that ever happened at Hogwarts. How to blame him... She sighed and asked him what had happened.

"Ronald Weasley was a victim of love, apparently. Seems that not being able to keep your penis in your pants is more dangerous than you can imagine."

Thus it was that Severus had to confess to Ria that, for the second time, a student had risked his life. The first time, when that girl was the victim of that horrendous workmanship, Ria had intervened as she could: the artifact was artisanal, she hadn't recognized it, but she had given Poppy a powerful antidote. The young student had remained steady, asleep for a long time and had slowly shown signs of recovery. Arianna was aware that she had been fundamental for the girl's safety and now she wondered how it was possible that it had happened again and why she had not been notified before.

"There is nothing you can do about it, Ria" Severus replied hastily. He had grabbed a couple of books and tried to leave the room as quickly as possible, but she stopped him, sealing the door. Neither of them had turned to look at the other.

“All this is not accidental. Someone is trying to get to Dumbledore and you... you don't suspect anyone because you already know who is behind all this, don't you?" Severus did not answer. Arianna continued. "Why is Dumbledore protecting the gulty one?"

Severus suddenly turned, meeting Arianna's apprehensive gaze: she knew that he was hiding something from her, she felt hurt by the lie he was hiding, yet there was no suspicion in her thoughts, not even one of them put in discuss his own position. Ria was adamant of his innocence and adamant of his position. "How can you say I'm not the one?"

 _Because I love you_. It was Ria's first thought, glaring and unmistakable, she had practically screamed those words from the bottom of her heart, ignoring his magical abilities. Severus felt the earth tremble under his feet and his heart abandon him, for a second, just before returning to reality. “I think I know you, Severus. I trust you” she stated. Severus left the room growling, leaving Ria alone, with an immensity of doubts and fears.

~~~

"You don't know everything" Severus stated, with a tight lump in his throat and tears in his eyes.

Ria was back in her room. She understood that something between her and Severus was breaking and yet it had nothing to do with their feelings: greater forces would separate them and she couldn't do anything. Severus wouldn't have given up taking the side of Dumbledore: he faced the war against Voldemort as if he had nothing else to live for. Nothing else to hope for. And yet he had returned to her that evening, he had looked for her.

Severus had tormented himself all day over those words of Ria: I _love you, I think I know you, I trust you_. He couldn't accept all of that, he couldn't freely accept all that love she was giving him without him being sincere. He was tired of the lies. Lying to the Dark Lord was easier: he felt nothing but hatred for him. Lying to Ria was impossible: he could no longer imagine life without her. So he came back to her, determined to tell her part his story, at least until 1980. That part of life that had determined the rest of his destiny.

Arianna welcomed him into her quarters. She made him sit on his small sofa, sitting next to him. Severus began to tell.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus confesses his past to Lily and Ariadne is not happy that she still has to fight for her love. Distance is painful.  
> Arianna receives an unexpected and mysterious visit.

_But I'm only human_   
_And I bleed when I fall down_   
_I'm only human_   
_And I crash and I break down_   
_Your words in my head, knives in my heart_   
_You build me up and then I fall apart_   
_'Cause I'm only human_

**_Human - Christina Perri_ **

"... first she was my only friend, then I loved her with all my heart, unable to prove that despite everything, despite my nature, my family and my every mistake, I loved her more than anyone else in the world and in the end, when she died, she was my only reason for living." Thus Severus's story ended with these sacred words, dedicated to an ephemeral angel who has disappeared for almost seventeen years. Seventeen long years in which her memory had barely kept him alive. And now that Arianna was there, that she believed she had turned the tide of his situation, that she believed she was enough for him, perhaps not to heal him, but at least to cure that sick and lonely heart little by little, she had the feeling of having failed. Now she understood what Remus meant: even if that Remus had had no scruples, even if he had been a silent spectator of violence and now like a cowardly dog he was ashamed of it, even though he had almost killed Severus, showing himself for who he really was, he had been right. Severus would have never loved her. Not in the way she would have loved him, blindly and unconditionally. Ria had offered him her heart on a silver tray and he was feeding on it, filling the voids of his soul, but emptying her. Ria wiped away tears before looking up at him with pride. Love, yes, but never submission. Not even for him. She would fight and if she survived, if he too survived and managed to pay off his debt, getting rid of that misplaced guilt, only then would it make sense to get back together.

She stood up. "I'm not going to compete with Lily Potter. You know, she's dead, I'm not" Ria said coldly. "I gave you everything Severus, everything I could. I trusted you. If it wasn't enough, then no one will ever be enough for you. I won't close my eyes while you fuck me, so as not to see you in my bed, imagining a other woman under you."

She opened the door with a wave of her hand, pointed to inviting him to come out. Severus stood up with a furious and fiery face, outraged by that cold and evil reaction of Arianna. How could she, in front of his every word, of all his confession, prove herself so deeply insensitive?! Why did he always have to be the one to lose? To give up? To make a mistake? Why was it always and only him? There were no words to be added, there was no explanation that could justify it. Severus, like a fury, got up and rushed towards the door with his swift and sinuous step, letting the cloak flutter dramatically.

Ria watched him walk away from her. Part of her wanted to grab him and hold him to her chest, kiss him on the forehead, reassure him that he would go through it all, but he was a man, a grown dark wizard, capable of making his own decisions. Twenty-six years had passed since 1971, he had had time to grow up. She had to let him go, holding on to one hope. The last card to play. "Severus" she called, stopping him one step from the threshold of the corridor. He didn't turn around. "I can wait for you... For a while."

Severus hesitated before exiting, closing the door behind him. He had only told the truth. He couldn't be blamed for confessing what his life really was! What was the point of all that discussion?

 _I love you, I think I know you, I trust you._  
Of course: he had come to her with the intent of really giving her a taste of who Severus Tobias Snape really was and how could she accept that? She had given herself to a monster... A disgusting wizard. Yet lately his view of himself had begun to change. He felt strong and not only physically, but determined. There was something more that pushed him forward, as if suddenly time had begun to flow again at the right speed, as if it were really moving forward.

 _I love you, I think I know you, I trust you._  
Severus rolled over in bed, finding himself on the desperately empty side to his left. The bed had never seemed so huge to him as it did now, and it wasn't a pleasant sensation. Severus felt... vulnerable. He hated that feeling. He hated feeling weak, it had always been like that. He remembered the torture he had endured in the Death Eater ranks as he sought the greatness, power and wealth he believed would save him from the pity he seemed to do to people when he met their gazes. Poor Snape, the poor, lonely kid from Spinner's End, the one who still wore his mom's blouse because he didn't have any clothes that could keep him warm but that bloody blouse. He hated feeling vulnerable, but that sense of defeat was different: there was an unknown anger in that feeling, an unstoppable desire to tear the whole world apart in order to have Ria again in his bed, even for a single minute. Then, Severus, he thought he could understand something...

 _I love you, I think I know you, I trust you._  
She said she was willing to wait. She would have waited for him, but why would he need that time? Yes, he had loved Lily and yes, he would always love her, but Arianna was right. Lily was dead. For the memory of that love, that lost friendship, he was ready to sacrifice his life, but now... Seventeen years had passed. When would he admit that that, regardless of Lily, was the right thing to do? Finally take the right side, make a decision, become the person he always wanted to be. Severus Tobias Snape, a little boy who grew up in shit, who all his life had to fight against countless injustices, but who would never again choose to solve everything by pouring out his bitterness on those he loved and who, unexpectedly, in turn, they loved him. That's why Arianna had cried, that's why she had pushed him away: she loved him. She had shown him, she loved him! And he had told her the truth only up to a certain point, unable to fully understand himself and his feelings, he had ignored the fact that his life had started to flow again. As the frozen river at the end of winter had begun to dig its passage in the rock, so he had slowly resumed living with her and now, in his chest, there was a heart beating, and he could even feel blood boiling in his veins. Fuck it. He was alive. He was a man, a powerful magician, a man who in that state had managed to resist all that time! Even his own magic seemed invigorated and more powerful than he remembered.

At the same moment, in her room, Ria watched the fire and let her most tormented thoughts sink into it. Severus had used the wrong way to tell her the truth and although she felt hurt by his words, she couldn't really be mad at him. Severus had suffered the pains of hell, his whole life had been a constant struggle for survival, suffocated against abuse that a child should not suffer. He too had been innocent... How can you hate an eleven-year-old boy simply for wanting to join the Slytherins, like his mom? A mother he had lost too soon to a misogynistic and violent father... At Hogwarts he had found no peace, no understanding. Severus had idolized the figure of Lily as a perfect woman, a goddess, the princess of his dreams... But she had abandoned him so soon and in her heart there was no forgiveness. A single word had been enough to end years of friendship and she had been blind to his pain, his repentance and all his attempts to be a better person. Severus had been wrong, had made countless mistakes, had committed crimes and had abused the Dark Arts as an expert Death Eater.

Life had dried him up, it had certainly made him unfriendly in the eyes of his peers and colleagues, but sometimes, in some cases, people change. People often change when they are given the chance to heal. Ria hadn't given up hope or stopped loving him, but was she willing to drain herself for him? And in all of that, how could Dumbledore have pretended that nothing had ever happened to Severus within the walls of that school? Oh, the headmaster knew full well that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had tried to assassinate Severus, but he hadn't intervened. Black should have been expelled, and not only Lupin had not suffered any consequences, but he had been hired again at Hogwarts as a teacher! Surely he never wanted to hurt one of his students, but... He could and he couldn't deny it. He was dangerous.

Ria wondered how much sense it really made to stay with him, by his side. How could she save him from that painful past when he seemed unable to get rid of it? Arianna sighed: she loved him. She couldn't deny that feeling, it was so intense and it burned her soul, it had brought her back to life after years of silence and solitude within the walls of her humble dark house, in an alley of Knocturne Alley. Could she accept that he couldn't love her in the same way? Could she continue to drain herself to give him some lifeblood, what little strength he needed to survive the war? She sighed. Perhaps the war would have mowed her existence, wiping her off the face of the earth, but after all she had never had much to live for. If fate had given her a sign of her mission in that unfair world, she had found it in Severus' eyes. Yet those words had hurt... She wasn't Lily Potter and she never wanted to be compared to another woman, especially when she slept in the bed of the man she loved. She had a lot to think about.

Severus didn't say a word to Arianna for several days: it was painful to see her so close, but without ever having her for real. She was bright and radiant as always, at least in appearance and he felt miserable: life was truly unpredictable and elusive, in a moment Severus could touch the sky with a finger and the next moment he would sink back into the darkest abyss. He was exhausted, but confused: what should he do with Ria? War wasn't the best time to decide what to do with his life, especially since every morning Severus wondered if he could ever survive the Dark Lord. Part of him knew that there was no rationality in hoping that it made sense to decide to commit to her, to fight alongside her and to win: he was damned, from the beginning of time and his face was forever marked by the sins of the crimes he had committed. Another part of him, the one that seemed to want to dominate him, sometimes preventing him from keeping control of his feelings, suggested he had to try. Many had managed to find happiness, even in those moments of suffering and struggle, why not him? Why couldn't Severus Snape? And yet, if Arianna joined him permanently, she would be in great danger. Severus couldn't have protected her when he became headmaster: if Dolohov or Carrow had asked for her, he would have had to turn her over. This he would have never done: he would have gladly stabbed Dolohov if necessary, but he knew he couldn't really do it. His lie had to be total. As he wallowed in these baleful thoughts, the weekend arrived.

On Saturday, the morning the sun illuminated the towers of Hogwarts, bathing the mountains in dazzling light. When Severus arrived in the Great Hall, Ria was already in her place and spread a generous amount of butter on a slice of toast. She had the tired look of someone who had tossed and turned in the sheets all night and, from time to time, yawned and rubbed her eyes, between sips of coffee. He sat down a little farther, stealing some pictures of her, before Ria raised her eyes to him. They looked at each other for what seemed like an infinite time. Severus refused the knowledge of having seen the tears in those eyes and lowered his serious and unperturbed gaze back to his plate, before being interrupted again. A flutter of wings caught his attention: a dove had entered the castle and was heading towards their large table. Mail never arrived on Saturdays, but this had to be an exception. The bird seemed to be heading for Arianna. The great hall was still partially deserted, as the students weren't supposed to wake up early on that day, so Arianna only drew Severus's attention to her as she stood up, reaching out to the white dove that alighted on it. The young woman grabbed the small message attached to the bird's leg and unrolled it, squinting to be able to read. Then, in less than a minute, Ria grabbed her cloak and rushed out, committing one small, major mistake: she left the message right there on the table, next to her plate still full of buttered toast.

> I'm in Hogsmead, at Hog's Head Inn. Come see me.  
> Your friend, Octavian

This short message was written on the tiny piece of parchment given to Ria. Severus put it in his pocket and, with his heart full of apprehension, he decided to go to Hogsmead.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arianna meets an old friend of her father, who after a long absence brings her a unique and irreplaceable gift. Severus is suddenly jealous and comes to a definitive conclusion regarding Ria.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Severus Snape/Original Female Character explicit smut

_Far away, long ago_   
_Glowing dim as an ember_   
_Things my heart used to know_   
_Things it yearns to remember_

**_Once Upon A December - Deana Carter (from "Anastasia")_ **

Octavian had arrived in Hogsmead in the middle of the night, driving his ancient caravan through the damp cobblestone streets, urging the old mule to continue with his weary stride. He was a merchant, linked to Arianna's father, Guelph d’Este, from their childhood in Italy, until the death of his friend, on his bed in Knockturne Alley. Despite his fame as a thief and scoundrel, Octavian was actually a man who had traveled extensively, carrying his home in his caravan and trading the strangest, most exotic and unusual items, selling all kinds of magical artifacts, including the arms of the Este family, with which he entered into business after Guelph's disinheritance, his marriage to Lucy and the immediately following birth of Arianna. The Hog's Head Inn had been the best idea to spend the night: he would leave soon, but not before meeting Ria.

Arianna didn't wait. As she read the message, she grabbed the cloak and rushed to Hogsmead to meet her friend. In her heart there was a storm of doubts: what was Octavian doing there? Unaware that she was being followed, she went without any intermediate stop, to the Hog's Head Inn, closing the door of the inn behind her, before observing the tables. In reality, it was still morning and just after dawn, the inn was still mostly deserted. Aberfoth sat in silence, reading an old book, in a corner of his inn, while in the opposite corner, in a dark ravine, Ria recognized a familiar-looking old hat.

"Are you looking for someone, Arianna?" a hoarse, ancient voice behind her awakened memories of many years ago.

Ria had to breathe deeply to hold back her anger. "You... _Dead_ you should be!" she whispered between clenched teeth. She turned: behind her there was a familiar-looking man, but with an old and wrinkled face as she didn't remember it at all. The frozen eyes and dark skin were the same, but now Octavian was covered with a beard and long mustache that fell up to his neck, a color as gray as the autumn sky.

"Dead? No. Old yes, but dead? Never!" he exclaimed. The old man pointed to his table and Ria sat down, like an obedient child.

“You left me alone. Father is dead, you were there, at his bedside! He would have liked you to stay, help me take care of the shop and myself, but you… years and never a letter, a visit, a message, whatever! I thought you were dead."

Sandor sighed and shook his head. “I know, but I couldn't risk it. If I had deluded you and then failed... I know I would have broken your heart. You were like a daughter to me, the daughter I never had and don't think I forgot, but it was your father who gave me one last mission, for you."

The man handed her an old letter, written on a yellowed and rough parchment on which Ria recognized the stamp of the Este family, the last mark of her father. Ria read the message with shaking hands and tear-filled eyes.

> My dear friend,  
> with these words I leave the world of the living ones for a much sweeter and more peaceful one.  
> I do not deny that I have been looking forward to the day when I could hug my Lucy again, since I too fell ill. She is the only sweet thought that accompanies me towards the threshold of life with my heart at peace. I fear, however, that I will have to entrust to you the last mission of my life, the only one that I will not be allowed to complete.  
> As you well know, the Este family have not been kind to my lineage. I don't believe in blood betrayal: there was nothing but love and purity in Lucy's soul and my eyes never noticed the absence of magic in her. My wife's dedication and courage were more powerful than any spell for me. My dear, only daughter is proof that our life together was not in vain.  
> But I have to confess a bitter truth to you. My oldest and only true friend, I confess my only repentance: the guilt of the betrayal of the pure blood of my family does not weigh on my head, but on that of Arianna. She is sterile. The curse my mother placed on my blood will prevent her from having a family of her own in the future.  
> I beg you, my friend, before the world can fall prey to a new war, before the day comes again when we wizards will have to fight for the sake of our families, find, somewhere in the world, a remedy for this curse.  
> I have nothing to repay you with, if not my eternal gratitude. All that remains of my family, I entrust to you.
> 
>   
> Goodbye My friend.  
> Guelph of Este

Ria dropped the letter and sank her face in tears. For the first time in nearly ten years, she thought she heard her father's voice again and his reassuring hand on her shoulder, assuring her that everything would be fine in the end. That hand, on the other hand, was Octavian's. "My child" he said "I'm sorry to cause you so much pain, but I wouldn't have known how else to explain..."

"I understand" she replied, wiping her eyes with a hem of her cloak, "I know there is no cure for my fate, but you don't know how much it heartens me to have you here, to see you again and to know that, after all, you haven't never forgotten".

“Silly girl! Stop despairing! Have you forgotten who I am? Octavian never came home without finding what he was looking for!" He took a tiny box from his jacket pocket and placed it between the girl's fingers. Arianna rolled her eyes and tried to compose herself, before he started talking again. “This will heal you. You will find it attached to a syringe: the needle was forged in Ardemonium and will burn. It will hurt you, Ria, you will have to be ready."

She shook her head. "What will it burn?"

Octavian sighed before confessing. "The needle will burn the curse in your blood."

~~~

Severus reached the Hog's Head Inn when the meeting between Ria and Sandor had ended. He saw two figures in front of the entrance to the inn: the man wrapped in a long and light purple cloak and covered by a large hat of a similar color, stroking Arianna's cheek. From a distance Severus couldn't tell how young or old the man was, but he was certainly fond of Ria in a rather intimate way. Severus was furious with himself: how could he bother following Arianna, in all that damned situation? Evidently she had rejected him, and here is the good reason why he would never be enough for her: there was another one! However, the stranger didn't stop, on the contrary he grabbed the reins of the caravan, sitting in his place and, greeting Ria with a wave of his hand, he spurred his mule, which timidly walked away towards the mountains. He should have given up, abandoned Ria there in Hogsmead and returned to Hogwarts, devoted himself to his mission, brooding over the past and forgetting all those months, but he couldn't! That silence, that distance and that absence were destroying him and he didn't know what to do. The last time he had apologized to someone more or less his entire life had been destroyed and now... now he saw the only person in the world who would have wanted close to get away from him, apparently together with someone else and it was like coming back twenty years. When he awoke from those thoughts, it was too late. Ria's gaze was on him and she was getting closer. He didn't move.  
Ria was in front of him. Her eyes were puffy and a little red, as if she had been crying, but a confident expression on her face that he didn't remember seeing in a while: they were the same eyes that had had blind faith in him for a time so long, without him even being aware of it. It was since 1981 that she looked at him with all the admiration and trust that he had never received from anyone else. Arianna d’Este was splendid. How could he have pushed her away?However, it didn't matter. She didn't belong to him, it seemed.

"Were you looking for me?" she whispered. A half smile rose on his lips and he couldn't help but notice it. A light of hope filled his gaze, but Severus hesitated. He said nothing, raised his eyebrow and fell silent. Ria sighed. "I was hoping you changed your mind about me... about us."

He couldn't let her go like that. Gods, she had given him everything! Since he had decided to work for Dumbledore, he had sworn to himself that never again would he be so coward as to make the wrong decision, so why would he allow himself to let her go? She was suffering, she said she loved him! Why couldn't he trust her and rely on her? He had to admit it at least to himself: she was different from Lily and the truth is that... he loved her for it. He loved her because he wanted her in every sense, in every nuance, in every way. There wasn't a single part of Ria that wasn't exceptional in his eyes and that beautiful witch, for some reason unknown to him, wanted him, despite everything, despite his unforgivable darkness. Severus grabbed Ria. She barely had time to notice his hands around her cheeks before his lips crashed into hers, rubbing them into a hot, desperate kiss.

“Yes, damn it, I was looking for you. I don't know what you did to me, woman, but I can't sleep without you. I can't fall asleep without your hands caressing my scars, I can't read without thinking of you, curled up in my chair in front of the fireplace, reading the newspaper and sipping my tea. I can't look at the pieces on my chessboard without imagining your voice, as you exclaim and get angry because you never understand how I always manage to win. I can't hold a lesson without thinking about the passion, determination and strength you put into your work and I can't eat because without you I'm not hungry and not even food gives me satisfaction. It's you I want, only you. Come back, Ria. Please."  
Arianna smiled. She nodded, resting her forehead on his chest as he squeezed her gently and affectionately. "Good. Now, are you interested in telling me who that man was?"

Arianna laughed and, nodding, they began to walk together, returning to Hogwarts.

~~~

Severus had raised her against the door. Ria held back her moans of pleasure, choked them by biting his cloak just over his shoulder, growled wildly as he slammed his cock inside her wet cunt.

They hadn't had time to reach one of their rooms: a caress, a light kiss before returning to the castle, his hand on her side, their clothes that inadvertently touched each other... Severus had pushed her into one closet and closed the door, but neither of them had bothered to cast a spell to silence their embrace. Now it was too late.

Severus had literally ripped off her panties, breaking them into two shreds of fabric that he had dropped to the floor. With his hand he had explored her pussy, tracing the line of her soft lips, rotating around her sensitive clitoris and sinking his fingertips into her wet center, covering them with her liquid. To taste it, he had licked his fingers several times, bringing those sweet nectars into his mouth, that honey he was completely addicted to. Gods, how much he had missed her. Severus slipped two fingers inside her, all the way, massaging that point inside her that made her swoon at his feet with pleasure; then he sucked them, moaning as he did it, enjoying all that juicy flavor.

Ria was speechless, she abandoned herself in his arms as his strong and tenacious body pressed her against the door, dominating her entirely. She was hot, unbuttoning her blouse waiting for him to sink his teeth into her bare, sensitive neck. With a wave of her hand she had cast that spell that he himself had taught her, unbuttoning all the buttons of her jacket and those of her pants, then, while he kissed her, savoring her tongue, biting her lips and squeezing his neck with one hand (not so much to deprive her of air, but enough to establish her domination), she had pulled his pants off, dropping them around his knees and spreading her legs, finally giving him permission to ride his cock there, there where she wanted it.

That was how he was fucking her, hard, passionately, because for too long he couldn't die inside her and it had been maddening. Severus had raised her against the door, her legs were around his waist and held him as he slammed her hard against the wall. Each stroke of his cock was a moan from her, every time the head of his cock reached her cervix, he died a little, but with pleasure.

"Fuck, _rrgh_ , can you... oh, _shit_ , can you come like this?" he asked desperately, close to his conclusion. She could feel the twitching of his balls as he prepared to end up inside her.

"Yes, yes, Severus ... hard, _harder_!"

“Ah! _Mine_ " he growled, sucking on her neck, leaving a clear red trace of their love and rubbing his crotch on hers, stimulating her clitoris and releasing the much desired orgasm in her. Ria milked his cock, she could feel her pussy tighten around him and suck all his rich cum as he orgasmed inside her. Time stopped and Severus felt, for a moment and finally, at peace with himself.

~~~

Ria was naked in his bed again. Lying prone on the mattress, she showed him her beautiful back, while he slowly caressed her along the spine, observing the pleasant shivers on her warm skin. She knew he had missed her: she could see it in his devoted gaze, in his softened expression, in his relaxed face, as he touched her as if suddenly she had become a fragile thing to protect.

"Why didn't you leave too?" Severus asked. In his voice there was only relief for Ria's decision, but he wanted to know. That war would have put her in mortal danger and she had unexpectedly had the chance to save herself, but she hadn't. Why?

"Well, I should have left you here all alone, basking in your remorse and resentment... Besides, Severus, I'm anything but a coward and if we want to be precise, however the war goes, I could save my skin." Severus frowned in an attempt to understand what she meant, then she explained to him. “Octavian found… I mean, I might be able to heal the curse. I'm not sure, but if that were the case, after all I'd just have to accept a marriage proposal… I'd have to fulfill my duties as a wife, of course, but the law is on my side. The Ministry has established that a witch can defend herself unconditionally from her husband when he intends to force her to fulfill her duties outside the appointed day. And in any case, if things go wrong, I could always use the Zabini tactic."

Severus laughed slightly. If that old friend had found the cure for her sterility, then Arianna was not obliged to leave to save herself. Besides, she would never agree to quit her business, something she would defend to the end with real determination. Whoever was the winner of that war, she would have saved herself in some way, using her name and her legacy if necessary. However, the thought that, in order to survive, she had to bond with one of the Death Eaters, perhaps even accepting Dolohov's proposal, made his skin crawl.

“You should marry someone who can protect you. You should marry a wizard who can ensure your safety on both counts and who can give you the life you want while respecting your decisions. Above all, you should marry someone who can satisfy your… fiery sexual appetite."

Ria laughed as she rolled over him and began kissing his neck and shoulders again, sinking lower and lower. “Are you talking about yourself, Severus? Would you like to get married? Starting a family? Fuck me every day trying to get me pregnant with your nice big cock?" she whispered, sensing his intentions.

"Don't tempt me, woman" he stated, slapping her ass, before sliding the head of his cock on the young witch's wet lips "because I might as well". And having said that, he fucked her one more time.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The famous battle between Harry and Draco in the bathroom, the whole truth about Snape's mission comes out. Arianna has no intention of giving up easily.

_Well I never pray,_   
_But tonight I'm on my knees, yeah._

**_Bitter sweet symphony - The Verve_ **

_May 1997_

Katie Bell returned to the common room after months of absence. The curse she had suffered had been far worse than Weasley's poisoning, but the girl had survived. Ria had told the professors that she wouldn't remember anything: the necklace had been powerfully cursed and, despite the Imperio curse she had been the victim of, it had not been the most experienced, it had been enough.

Harry noticed Katie because Hermione told him and Katie noticed Draco because she saw him walk with his usual brisk and nervous step into the great hall, so Harry noticed Draco. Severus noticed that Potter had noticed Malfoy and followed them both. Ria didn't play a role in that game of glances, but the apprehension with which Severus left his chair to follow the two boys alarmed her. By the time she too reached the boys' bathroom, it was too late. She barely had time to see Draco's blood diluted in hot water scattered across the bathroom floor, as Severus's wand and lullaby stitched up the wounds of the dark spell; she grabbed Potter by the collar, before could escape from the situation it had caused.

"What the fuck did you do?" Ria hissed through clenched teeth, truly appearing like a snake ready to bite its prey for the first time.

Harry didn't shiver. “It was Draco. I didn't want to do this, but it was Draco! He cursed Katie that day!" he yelled, trying to justify that gesture, but she didn't want to listen.

"Where did you learn that spell? Oh, don't try to tell me you invented it, I know dark magic and your limited mind, despite the prophecy, wouldn't be able to invent a spell of that magnitude! Give me the book you found it in and don't force me to use veritaserum, Potter.” She leaned over him, hissing in his ear. “If Umbridge has been mean to you, I will be the devil. You nearly killed one of my students."

Harry was forced to hand over the book, which he would get rid of anyway after that incident. Ria let him sneak away like a cowardly mouse, then she entered the bathroom: Severus had helped Draco to sit down and the boy was trying to hold back the tears, but every wound, despite being healed, still burned immensely. Arianna knelt on the ground, regardless of the water. She glanced at Severus and made him understand to go and take care of the matter with the other professors. When Severus was out, Draco took a deep breath. Ria sighed and, seeing him begin to cry, approached him and hugged him. The boy immediately sobbed nervously and rested his forehead on her head. Ria said nothing, but wondered what awful business Draco had gotten involved in and how much Severus was involved in it all.

~~~

"How involved are you in Dumbledore's murder?"

Her question broke the silence of the evening. It was customary for Ria to knock on Severus' door after dinner for a few hours of company. They never slept together during the week, but sex was certainly not out of the question. Severus liked it when she sat on top of him, filling the sides of the chair with her legs and starting to undo his tie. He didn't have to move until she finished unbuttoning his jacket, then every request became a command. Ria was his, completely and delightfully hers. That night, however, she had been different from the start. She had knocked energetically on the door, had entered with a firm step and approached the fireplace. Severus knew her now, when she sought the warmth of the fireplace, it was usually because she was nervous. Then the question had been a bolt from the blue.

“Don't lie to me, Severus, and don't ignore me. You followed Potter and Malfoy because you knew what was happening, you knew what was going to happen, because you know Potter is right. Draco is guilty, only an idiot wouldn't understand this. What is... curious, is that you intervened so promptly. You've known it for a long time, you didn't do anything to stop him, not only that: you skilfully avoided the accusations falling on the young Malfoy. Why are you protecting him, Severus? Why aren't you stopping him from getting to Dumbledore? What are you hiding from me?"

Her voice was firm, but Severus could sense the desperate prayer behind those words. He was so tired of having to lie: if he hadn't told her she would have hated him and if she had hated him... life had been of little value to him before, if she had disappeared now, it would have had none at all.

“Dumbledore is dying. A curse hit him… suddenly. The Dark Lord doesn't know, so he ordered Draco to kill Dumbledore as a fine for his father's failure. Albus knows about this. However... if Draco should fail..."

Ria lifted a single finger, stopping it. Her lips were tightened in a grip of pain, her eyes were swollen with tears, but her expression was awful and determined. “He can't... Dumbledore can't! Upur soul, Severus! What about your soul?! _Why_?" she asked, trying not to snap on him.

"I can't tell you that" Severus was forced to whisper.

Ria shook her head, laughing bitterly, letting the tears fall to the floor like an unstoppable waterfall. She wouldn't allow it.

~~~

At that time in the evening, no one ever knocked on the door of the headmaster's office, so Dumbledore knew immediately that it had to be something particularly relevant. Dumbledore went to the door and opened it slowly, without waking the portraits that slept peacefully on him. He was amazed when he noticed in what state Arianna d’Este showed up at his door: her eyes were swollen and red, tired and wrinkled by the fingers with which she had strongly rubbed them. His lips were nervously bitten, his skin was crisscrossed with eerie tremors. He made her sit down. He was a wise man, he knew he didn't need to speak first.

“Mercy, please. Mercy” she whispered. Arianna held Dumbledore's gaze as few had dared before her and her heart was torn, Albus knew it. But why? “Severus… he mustn't… you can't… Oh _gods_ , Albus, he doesn't want to! _Mercy_ for his soul!"

Albus stiffened. A thousand thoughts crossed his mind in no time: if Severus had come to confess such a secret (and he trusted his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he himself had shaped him, unable to avoid exploiting his resentment and his grudge) meant that a deep bond was born between the two, a bond that prompted a proud and noble young woman like Ria to beg for his salvation. Love. Simple, pure love, but...

"Why plead like that for Severus Snape's soul? He accepted any conditions to protect young Potter after his mother Lily died. His whole life was dedicated to her and for her memory, he devoted himself to this. He swore. He can no longer avoid."

“You convinced him… ** _you condemned_ _hi_ _m_**! _His_ soul, Dumbledore! Severus _deserves_ a future after this war!"

Dumbledore shook his head, walking back to the door. That conversation should never have happened. He opened the door and invited her to leave his office. Ria looked at him with hateful eyes. "Your word, Miss d'Este, that none of this will ever be revealed before time" he was forced to impose her.

Ria nodded without adding anything and, defeated and reluctant, she left Dumbledore's office.

~~~

Severus had practically begged her to get some sleep. Arianna needed it, he knew it, but she reiterated that she wasn't sleepy. "How can you sleep?" she had whispered, perhaps asking more of herself than of him. He had explained harshly to her that sometimes it is necessary to choose between what is right and what is easy: Severus wasn't a coward and had learned the hard way how to make his own decisions. Ria had told him not to worry. “Can I get one of your books? I will sleep little tonight." Severus nodded.

Ria knew the alphabetical arrangement of Severus' small library by heart. She slid her finger along the edge of the volumes carefully placed side by side. With a bitter, nostalgic smile, she picked up an old book. "That's a children's book" Severus commented. It was a strange statement, he would never have wasted his breath to enunciate such an obviousness, but the whole situation was strange. It made him uncomfortable. For the first time in many years he had exposed himself and the person in front of him accepted him. She had defended him. He knew she would fight for him. Severus wondered if that was enough to mend his soul in the end.

"I know" Arianna replied "my father used to read it to me... I hated the tale of the Deathly Hallows. My book was bigger than this, full of illustrations. Death was my boggart during the third year, it was drawn horribly along with the three gifts: the wand, the stone and..."

 _The wand_. The Elder Wand. The wand of white wood, light as a breath of air and impregnated with poison, of the cyanide that crosses the lymphatic veins of the plant.  
 _That wand_. The same as Dumbledore's, the one she had already smelled, like a distant memory, in his office a few hours earlier.  
 _All he's missing is that wand_. The wand Bellatrix mentioned, the one Voldemort was looking for. The one that would become Severus' property, if he defeated Dumbledore ... And Voldemort wanted to have it for himself, then ... And Dumbledore ... He knew it. Not only that, he had designed it, hiding it from his useful servant.  
Ollivander had disappeared. The shop, destroyed.  
 _All he's missing is that wand._  
Ria's mind began to process quick thoughts, one after the other: Severus had to up on the mission imposed on him by Dumbledore, but in this way Draco would have died. Part of Ria was willing to sacrifice anyone in Severus's place, but her rationality reminded her that Severus was key to winning that war. He couldn't give up on everything and run away with her, he would never do it anyway. There was real determination in him. Besides, Draco was just a boy, he couldn't be left to die like a beast to be slaughtered. There was only one option available.

Ria smiled. She walked over to Severus and kissed him. He returned that kiss in despair, as if he didn't want to see her go. They both knew she couldn't stop anything that night.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the saddest day our lovers are forced to separate, but this will not interrupt their struggle for survival.

_Take me to church_   
_I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies_   
_I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife_   
_Offer me that deathless death_   
_Good God, let me give you my life_

**_Take me to church - Hozier_ **

_June 30, 1997_

The evening was cold, even though it was June. The moonlight illuminated the astronomy tower. Ria knew that day was the day. She was there, waiting. Dumbledore looked like a broken man, a defenseless old man. Potter, for some reason, had appeared with him, trying to support him, while he was calling on Severus. Severus. The man who would have killed him and he made fun of him like that, used him even after having sentenced him. It was at that moment that, suddenly, all the actors of that intricate staging took their places. Ria, distracted by Malfoy's footsteps (who was too scared to notice the dark shadow hidden under the tower staircase), didn't notice that Dumbledore had immobilized Potter under the invisibili cloak. It was just as Draco and Dumbledore exchanged their last words that Severus reached the tower.

He immediately noticed her. Snape was extremely sensitive to magic, she was inevitably recognizable. When he looked at her and noticed her eyes shining in the dark, hidden in the shadows, he melted a little. Her presence made that evening even more difficult, from a certain point of view. That was goodbye: Severus should have been used to letting go of the people he loved. Each time it seemed more difficult. He had little time and couldn't talk much. He approached her cautiously, throwing a muffliato around them without being perceived by anyone.

"You're crazy, woman" he whispered with a tremendous lump in his throat.

She smiled. "I love you" Ria said. She didn't know if she would ever get to see him like this again, alive and strong as he was at that moment. “I will love you even after... now you go."

Severus kissed her lightly, in passing. Those words, the ones he should have said… he didn't say them. It was good to be loved as she had loved him: without expecting anything in return. He felt strong enough to cast that deadly spell. Perhaps, without her, he would not have found the will to do so.

~~~

 _Avada Kedrava_.

The sudden green light flashed in the dark, illuminated the sky with its eerie glow and silenced everyone present: Severus lowered his wand with a dark and determined look on his face, while Malfoy was being dragged by Madame Lestrange as he no longer seemed able to walk alone. Severus's cloak caressed Ria one last time as they descended the stairs of the Astronomy tower and all the Death Eaters headed for Hagrid's hut.

Harry quickly took off his cloak. Part of him didn't want to believe what he had seen. It was Snape! All that time he had been told he should trust, have faith, be understanding! It had all been a lie, a well-designed manipulation and he had been so naive! Hermione had been, Remus and everyone else! Even Dumbledore had let himself be deceived. The boy ran after that coward, but didn't have time to go down the first two steps. A strong pair of hands stopped him. Professor d'Este's face showed deep pain.

“What… how…” Harry stammered and she held him tight.

“Does it seem wise to you now to run after those Death Eaters? You'll get yourself killed, Potter. We need you alive” she whispered. Harry stopped and started shaking. He was suddenly very cold. "Gather the other professors" Arianna added "go".

He obeyed, sobbing.  
With a last effort, Ria cast one last spell. "Accio Elder wand."

~~~

> Dear Tonks,  
> when you read this letter, it will already be too late. I can't ask you to hide it from the Order, I wouldn't do it myself, but I'm writing to you because I know that you, before all the others, would be able to understand. I trust you.
> 
> Do you remember our years at Hogwarts? We were young, naive, sometimes carefree. You sure were. Do you remember how many times, when I was alone punching and kicking, and you found me in my pool of pain, I asked you not to take me to the infirmary? Snape. I was asking you to take me to Snape's office. I know you remember it, you found it inappropriate weird.
> 
> Tonks, whatever happens, trust me. Trust me. Asking you to trust Snape will be too much, but I know things you don't know, you don't imagine.  
> I have to drop out of school and the Order. I will not return, not before the beginning of the end. Don't worry, I'll know what the time will be. Do not look for me for any reason. Only in this way will I be able to save the lives of as many people as possible.

The green, gleaming wax stamp on Ria's parchment paper had remained intact when Tonks read the message. The words were scribbled with haste and nervousness, showing black ink spots here and there and sometimes the words were difficult to interpret. Arianna had always been so precise, but at that moment she had obviously not had time to explain herself more fully. Nymphadora knew all of this while reading aloud in front of the rest of the Order. Remus' frown expressed the confusion of everyone present, but there was a deeper pain in Harry's eyes.

“Asking us to trust Snape?! He killed Dumbledore, I saw him and she was there!" Harry yelled and Ginny had to hold him by the hand, to prevent him from getting up in the rush of the exclamation.

"Nobody doubts your word, Harry" Remus whispered, implicitly suggesting a lie on the part of the author of that letter. Tonks shook her head in confusion, repeating that the message didn't make any sense. Molly had a dark and sad expression. Only Fred and George exchanged eloquent glances. It was Arthur who asked them what they thought. "You have known her for longer, do you want to say something?" he stated, with that reassuring look typical of any confident father.

The twins nodded. "Ria was our first client, we know her a little. We are not fortune tellers, but..." George started.

"...why would she lie? We were in Hogsmeade that day, after the attack. She was bleeding, she had fought, Dolohov had tried to... " Fred and George looked at each other once more. It was clear what they meant. The problem was to understand why Arianna, who had every good reason to fight for the Order, was going to trust Snape. What did she know that could really change her mind?

~~~

Draco was cold. Every night, since Dumbledore had died and he had witnessed the murder, he was shaking, his teeth chattering like crazy wrapped in the sheets of his bed. Just like a caterpillar protecting itself in its worm, but he was sure it was too late for him to turn into a butterfly. The black mark had never stopped burning and he was afraid. His father, in the room next to his, sadly empty since they had slowly fallen into disrepair, was crying and he could hear the strangled sobs. His mother had stopped reassuring him for a long time, but she never avoided peeking into Draco's room to make sure her son was okay: he pretended to sleep every time. On his nightstand lay a note, a single message he'd found in his Defense Against the Dark Arts book, though it wasn't written by Snape for sure. That message was from Professor d'Este, he recognized the writing:

_Marathon_

Draco wasn't sure he understood, and part of him told him it wasn't important, not entirely. Part of the message was clear: Arianna d’Este still harbored hopes for him. She had disappeared, no one knew where she was, Dolohov was looking for her and he knew it, but he knew in the same way that even if he had known he would not have betrayed her. Arianna d’Este was more or less the only one to have trusted in his redemption. Whatever happened to her, he would honor her memory.

~~~

> Octavian, I need help. I'll reach Shady Glade north of the Forbidden Forest next night. Come and get me. I'm in danger.
> 
> Ria

This short message had been delivered by a small gray and insignificant owl, who was now arguing with his dove over a few crumbs of food. Octavian lit his pipe and spurred on his mule. Arianna needed help and he ... He would honor that request. War was upon us and he would do anything to get Arianna out of that bloodbath. He wondered, however, if the details of that request were more gruesome than he could have imagined.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ria has disappeared. Draco and Severus think about the consequences of everything that is happening around them. Severus is haunted by her actions but is determined to wait for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My activities is likely to be more sporadic these days. I have to take exams and I have a lot of study to deal with. However, know that I will conclude this fanfic as soon as possible.

_Se perdo la mia fede_   
_Che avevo in te_   
_Ritornera' il buio_   
_Perche' di te_   
_Io mi illumino_

_(If I lose my faith I had in you darkness will return,_   
_because I shine thanks to you)_

**_Let it shine - Zucchero_ **

_1 September 1997_

Draco had spent all of his summer days in his cold room in the Malfoy Mansion: Voldemort frequented their house too often. Nagini ate on their table, devoured the victims of the Death Eaters. Antonin Dolohov didn't stop fantasizing aloud with Fenrir about what he wanted to do to Professor d'Este. Snape kept an eye on him as if he were spying on his thoughts and was annoyed. It had all been extremely frustrating. Everything had made him feel helpless, truly useless and disgusting, and although he was tired of continually having reason to be ashamed of himself, he had no way out of that vicious circle.

Snape gave the first speech that year, he was the new principal. He praised the Dark Arts, declared that no mudblood would be admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, strongly and explicitly supported Voldemort, introducing Carrow as the new Dark Arts teacher, no longer Defense. Draco felt sick: for a moment, for a single moment, he seemed to understand that... Snape and Miss d'Este seemed to everyone... but it couldn't be, that hideous and ruthless creature was unable to love, while he knowingly condemned his students to countless tortures. Draco got up from the Slytherin table first, when dinner was over. With a brisk step he headed for the exit of the Great Hall, leaving all the others behind. When all the other students followed, as soon as they crossed the threshold of the corridor, on the floor in front of them, they found a green and silver tie. Many were happy to step on it.

~~~

_Ria, where are you?_

Severus had been wondering this for months. Life had become terribly bitter, nothing seemed to make any sense even though he knew very well the part he had to continue playing. He would see his students being tortured and could no longer do anything to protect them. If some of them failed to survive he would have a one way ticket to Azkaban and it wouldn't matter what his role in the war was. Each day he was more and more convinced that Dumbledore had involved him in a game much bigger than himself, and he was only happy to have at least distanced himself from Voldemort, whose relentless restlessness was being vented upon his disciples. Severus had been lucky: since he murdered Dumbledore, the Dark Lord had been kind to him and Severus knew he was considered a faithful servant, a useful pawn. He only prayed that Voldemort would never find a valid reason to get rid of him.

In all of that, his gaze wandered over the foggy Forbidden Forest, which seemed even darker and further away from that tower and extended as far as the eye could see into the valley. Dusk embraced the Scottish mountains, melancholy clouds lowered to touch the cold earth and autumn was preparing to arrive, flooding every place with its icy rain. Arianna d’Este had disappeared the day the old headmaster died. No trace of her, no messages, nothing. And Dumbledore's wand was gone. Why had Ria taken it away?

_Ria, where are you?_

Then the night embraced Hogwarts.

~~~

The place was unfamiliar to him. Everything was white, aseptic, still. Yet something evoked in him ancient memories, memories far farther than he could imagine. In the distance he thought he heard the whistle of a train, but it made no sense, trains are only found in...

"London station. Here it is... Platform 9 and three quarters. You remember that, don't you, my boy?"

Severus turned his dark gaze abruptly and met the frozen blue eyes of the old professor. "Albus..." he didn't have a word. He too...

Dumbledore sighed. "Eh, well it seems my plans are moving in a very different direction from what I envisioned." Severus shook his head, not undertanding. "Oh, don't worry Severus. Nothing depends on you anymore! Everything is in Arianna's hands now, literally."

He jumped. "Ria ?! Do you know where she is? What's going on? I thought this was..."

"A dream? Of course it's a dream! Does it mean that it's not important? Oh, it is. The war is open again, Severus, and all possible scenarios are now dark to me... She saved your life, my boy."

At that point, Severus became serious and his thoughts were grave and heavy. If Arianna had saved his life it meant that Albus had seen his death. Not only that, he had conveniently forgotten to mention him. "So, I would have been the scapegoat..."

Albus didn't answer, his icy gaze lost itself in the distance. A silent locomotive approached. A wagon stopped in front of them and opened its doors. "Don't worry, my boy. Arianna is still alive, otherwise... Otherwise you would have met her here, right on that train."

Severus finally stood up. The chin up, the determined gaze, the strength in the heart. "I'm not a boy, Albus. I'm a man and there's nothing you or Voldemort can do to stop me from living."

For a moment he thought he saw Albus smile, before watching him walk away on that train into a blinding white light. Dawn was rising and Severus was awakening.

~~~

Months passed. The winter passed and it was cold and snowy, more silent than ever. Hogwarts had become a theater of horrors: older students were forced to torture younger ones. Children cried in the dark corners of the corridors and their tears were useless, they slipped away in rivers of water that were lost in the meanders of the Black Lake, into which every prayer plunged. There, in the heart of the river, an island lay in silence and, on that island, there was a tomb.  
The white tomb hadn't been buried. The white marble slab lit up in the moonlight and reflected its rays on the mirrored surface of the Black Lake, which was placid and silent. Voldemort was so disgusted and amused at the same time: that sentimentality made him sick, but it had a certain implicit irony. That wizard's vanity had been his undoing, his trust had led him to death, his wand hadn't been able to win against the betrayal of a friend. Friends, love. Empty words. What Voldemort had needed should had been there in that tomb. He had slipped the white plate.  
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had held no wand. Voldemort had screamed in anger in the silence of the night.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperate to save Severus' life without being tortured by the Death Eaters, Arianna fled. Hermione meets her in the heart of a forest, during one of the wanderings with Harry and Ron.

_Take him by the hand_   
_Make him understand_   
_The world on you depends_   
_Our life will never end_

**_Riders on the storm - The Doors_ **

_April 1998_

Hermione knew they were safe in that clearing. She had cast every necessary protection spell and, although they had already had some unpleasant encounters, she had understood well that it was best to stay away from the boundary drawn by her spells. They were all terribly tired. The search was turning out to be slow, complex, exhausting. Ron had returned and had shown a bit 'of balance despite her initial anger, in the end she had forgiven him. Now they were all together again, determined to find answers.

The afternoon was always colder than dawn, for some reason. Harry and Ron were in the tent, talking to each other quietly and listened to the radio. Hermione needed light and fresh air, the rustle of leaves on the forest floor and… blood? The girl noticed that at her feet a leaf, a single dry leaf was stained with a drop of bright blood. When she turned her gaze to search the area around it she noticed that the drop wasn't alone, but continued like a trace left by someone who had been injured. Curiosity and innate courage convinced her to follow that trail a little longer, a little further and then more and more, until she turned the corner behind a tall and dark fir tree at whose feet she found someone who did not would never expect to meet.

Professor of Este.  
Arianna d’Este was injured. For some strange and unknown reason the professor was there, kneeling on the ground, with one arm bleeding from a deep wound, inflicted by the sharp blade of a knife that had lodged in her muscle. Silently, Hermione watched as the other pulled needle and thread from a small bag. With her teeth she grasped the tattered sleeve of her sweater while with her hands she wiped the wound with a warm cloth, just before sticking the needle into the flesh to close the cut. Every time she winced from the pain, but Ria knew those wounds, he knew how to heal them. Finally she applied a scented herbal paste and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Hermione realized she had been discovered.

Arianna's parosmia never lied. "Hermione..." she whispered. The name broke the spell, Arianna saw the girl. The copious tears flowed from her eyes and the young woman began to sob. For the first time in many months she finally saw a friendly face and this, for a while, made her feel safe.

~~~

The small heater inside the tent warmed the environment, while Ria drank hot gruel prepared by Hermione. It tasted terrible, but Ria hadn't eaten decently in months. Whatever seemed to her the best she could ever hope to achieve. She didn't notice the looks that the three guys gave her. Hermione felt a deep compassion: miss d'Este had dirty clothes and badly stitched up at the wounds, she was tired and dirty. Her hands were tired, her eyes were weaker than Hermione could remember. She appeared to be a different woman from the tenacious young warrior they had known at Hogwarts. Harry was stunned and confused: how had Arianna got there? Her name had never been mentioned on the radio, no one in the Order had heard from her since that damned day... She had been there, Harry knew that Miss d'Este had also witnessed what Snape had done and he couldn't give up wondering why she ran away. It didn't make sense. Harry had doubted the young teacher's loyalty: the deep friendship between Arianna and Severus was evident to everyone, but the image he had in front of his eyes was that of a broken and tired woman, a woman destroyed and willing to do anything for one personal mission which nobody knew anything about. Ron was genuinely disgusted. He found it harder to have faith than the other two friends. He was suspicious and was waiting for an explanation.

Ria wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and sighed deeply. Her glassy gaze was lost, distant and elusive. Her shoulders dropped like boulders and it seemed she could crumble at any moment.  
"I was, for a while, in the north, near Hogwarts. Especially during the summer, when the weather was still mild and warm. I wasn't alone. As I wrote to Tonks, I also sent a message to an old friend of my father's. We met north of Shady Valley, between Rehalm Gorge and Merlin's Half Peak. We would have to go on to London together and hide in the big city, where we would mingle with Muggles, avoiding the wizarding world during the winter. He wouldn't have attacked in those months anyway. I was following his movements, I was very careful and very cautious. Rumors of a great army started going around. Vold... _Him_ , he has gathered numerous followers. Two giants, as far as I know. Numerous dark wizards. The dementors of Azkaban, all of them have joined him by now. Packs of werewolves who travel like hermits in these very forests." Ria pointed to the wound on her arm that she had healed herself. "I recognize one of my knives when I meet it... These blades cause deep wounds, impossible to heal with magic. Those who do not know these knives and are injured by them often bleed quickly... I can count on myself lucky... Anyway I knew Voldemort would need time to attack. Not only. He wants to get rid of you, first of all, and he's looking for you." Arianna pointed to Harry, but none of those present were surprised. Everyone was aware of what they were facing. The fear was real, but so were the courage andawareness. "We didn't make it... At the gates of the Forbidden Forest we were attacked... The caravan was surrounded by Death Eaters. This was their territory and, despite the anger of the centaurs, they had managed to conquer it. I knew that, if they found me, everything would have been lost and I know you Gryffindors cannot understand, but sometimes you have to sacrifice others for your own safety. The caravan caught fire... I fled. I reached Manchester. It's a long story... I was robbed, I was attacked... I have no money, I have no more clothes, I am running out of food... But I have my weapons, and my wand. I don't need anything else. It's a matter of weeks now... maybe days. I'll go back to the Forbidden Forest, I was headed there. I want to gather the centaurs and thestrals if necessary. Voldemort's army is large... We have little hope. Sometimes I think... In the end, in any case, he'll win. He wants eternal life and... Well no one can live forever, but he... He won't die, not as long as he lives in here" Ria tapped her temple with the tip of her index finger and made herself understood. She was right: no one would save them from nightmares and, in those dark dreams, Voldemort would always be king. Ria shook her head, as if trying to drive away thoughts and closed again in a religious silence.

Harry shuddered at that chilling tale, but still didn't understand. "Why? Why aren't you gone for real? You ran away..." Harry whispered.

There was tenacity in that woman, but she seemed to be an aimless mad withc when she could have built a different life elsewhere. Ria sighed. "I guess I have to say that. The time is near now" she said. From inside her filthy sweater, Ria pulled out the Elder wand. Harry winced, but before he could verbally assault her Arianna raised both hands in surrender, but still holding her wand tightly. “Let me explain! Severus has the right to..."

“Severus Snape killed Dumbledore! You know it, you were there, _you saw it_!" Harry screamed angrily. The tears of frustration in the corners of his eyes blurred his vision, but he knew he would defend the headmaster's memory to the end.

Ria shook her head and Hermione intervened, calming Harry and convincing both boys to listen. The young woman told everything: how Severus had confided in her, confessing to her Dumbledore's plan to save Draco's soul and allow the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to gain the Dark Lord's trust and, in this way, to later become headmaster of Hogwarts, when the Death Eaters took over the Ministry. Snape was doing what was in his power to save as many students as possible, but the final battle was getting closer and closer. "Severus didn't tell me everything" Ria continued, "nor did he know all of Dumbledore's plan... The headmaster decided to exploit him to the end, to drain him, depriving him of everything... even his own life".

"What are you talking about? Snape is alive, he's at Hogwarts!" Hermione replied, squeezing Arianna's hand to comfort her, but she kept talking. “Harry, you remember, you were there. Snape finished Dumbledore, so he is the rightful owner of this wand! Dumbledore knew that, sooner or later, Riddle would look for it and when he realized that the wand would never respond to his will, it would never be loyal to him, what do you think he would do? He would have killed the rightful owner and kept it for himself. This is why I ran away. I'm saving Severus's life. He doesn't know anything... I didn't have the courage..."  
Arianna wept silently, putting the Elder wand back in her jacket pocket. Hermione shook her head, a little confused.

"Why is that wand so important?" she asked hesitantly. The four exchanged eloquent glances and it was clear that the young wizards were unprepared.

“The elder wand is one of the Deathly Hallows; this, together with the stone of the resurrection and the cloak of invisibility, make a magician a master of death. I don't think _He_ is interested in the cloak or the stone, but this… this is the most powerful wand in the world” Arianna explained. Silence fell again in the tent, until Ria fully worked out the fact that those three boys should have been in school. "What about you? I mean... the fuck are you doing around this forest?" she exclaimed, a little confused.

That was the moment when they too began to explain.

~~~

The following day, at the first light of dawn, Ria left the boys' tent. She had to resume her wanderings. She knew that werewolves prowled around that territory, that they would find them and probably take them to the Malfoys. Nothing could be done for them. If they had been clever, they would have survived. If they followed her teachings, the wounds would leave no scars.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three stories of our Slytherins: Draco seeks the answers to help Ariannae return, Ria uses every means to give Hogwarts and Severus hope, and Snape, the new headmaster, must finally face his responsibilities by meeting Harry Potter face to face, to the last time.

_No Hallelujahs and no kingdom comes_  
_So you will not catch me staring at the sun_  
_Do you hear that thunder?_  
_That's the sound of strength in numbers_

**_Grounds - Idles_ **

_May the first, 1998_

Draco was pretty desperate. Months had passed. He had watched his schoolmates, even his own housemates, being mercilessly tortured by the Carrows. He had sunk into a spiral of loneliness and confusion. What to do? Which side to choose? Faced with a crossroads of possibilities, he had long been totally helpless, unable to decide, indolent. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. For this reason, in the end, he had clung to the only positive memory in his heart. And just during one of those days when the blue butterfly fluttered over him, as he stood alone and in silence, hidden in the dead of night among the opaque curtains of his bed, he had an illumination.

 _Marathon_.

He still didn't understand what that word meant. _I mean... What the heck is a marathon?_ His days were filled with books and reading. Draco scoured more or less the entire library, including the forbidden ward. The Carrows didn't object, quite the contrary. Draco told them he needed it in his usual haughty manner and Madam Pince was thrown against the door, keys in hand, and was ordered to open the lock. Malfoy would have used any means. After all, not everything he had been taught was useless. Nothing. He hadn't found anything. Huge volumes of spells and dark transfigurations, dusty and ancient books of mysterious and mystical figures of wizards and witches of the past, potions of obscene perversion, but nothing, nothing that spoke of Marathon. In the end, only one option remained...

~~~

Seamus and Dean dragged Draco Malfoy to what was left of the Room of Requirement. All the students who had finally joined Dumbledore's Army were gathered there. A lot were hurt, tired, hungry... Snape knew about them and had done so. Their beds were old cold cots in which the little ones piled next to each other, while the older ones, aware of the war, silently suffered the consequences of the horrors to which they were subjected daily. Neville was tired: he had been mercilessly tortured by the Carrow twins, but he had resisted courageously. His face was half a mask of blood, but he hadn't bothered to clean himself, no. He would have everybody know that among them there were only fighters, soldiers, strong wizards and witches. When Seamus and Dean dragged Draco, Neville wasn't happy.

"He was poking out of the room" Seamus commented angrily, pointing the same Malfoy's wand at the Slytherin's neck until it almost scratches him.

"Strange for you to venture this far. You've always been a damned coward, worthy son of your father" Longbottom commented, causing laughter among the Gryffindors. But he wasn't smiling. He fought hard against the urge to spit in his face. Draco, for his part, said nothing cruel or angry, he fell silent and looked down. "What do you want, loser?"

Draco sighed. "Help" he whispered. When his icy eyes lifted back to the Gryffindor again, Neville noticed the copious tears rolling down his cheeks. He wondered if that wasn't a trap, but Draco was alone, they would have noticed everyone else.

"Professor d'Este left me a message before disappearing... I can't understand it! I need help, I think she has entrusted me for something, but I don't know what. She's on your own side and I... I admit, it disgusts me to have to ask for help from you, who have no respect for powerful pureblood families." Seamus squeezed the collar of his shirt and Malfoy, for a moment he stopped breathing. "I don't want to betray Professor d'Este. The Death Eaters want her... In every sense. That's why I think she ran away, but we all know she's not a coward. Help me."

Neville exchanged glances with his companions. The others gathered around them: Luna, Cho Chang, Ginny Weasley. "And what are you going to give us in return, Draco?" Ginny asked. Her eyes shone like fire.

Malfoy bit his lip in anger. "In return? Anything."

The boys exchanged eloquent glances. What they needed was everything he could access within the school. "Food" Neville said, "lots of food and healing potions. Bring them and you will have our help."

So it was and, an hour later, all the students in the room finally ate their fill.  
Draco and the others sat in front of the single fireplace, which timidly warmed the large room. He took out the book and showed the others the handwriting. "Here, this is her handwriting, but I don't understand what it means. I looked everywhere, even in the forbidden ward and I didn't find anything."

Seamus laughed. "You couldn't have found anything anywhere. That's... a Muggle thing. The marathon is an athletic discipline. It's a running competition."

Draco wrinkled his nose in disbelief. "There must be more."

Luna lifted her nose from the quirk and smiled bewildered. "Oh I know the story of Marathon, but it's pretty old and you don't like these things Draco, don't you? After all, they don't have anything to do with the story of wizards, but since you asked, I'll tell you. In Marathon, the Athenians they had to fight the Persians in far fewer numbers. So they sent a messenger, Philippides, who ran faster than a horse, to Sparta asking for help. And the Spartans answered, and sent troops, so that they won against the Persians. Then Philippides died, running in Sparta again to announce Nike, victory."

Draco's eyes lit up and he understood everything. "Here's what she asked me... Of course! Someone has to tell her when the time comes" the boy exclaimed. Everyone exchanged strange looks.

"How are you going to send her the message? Nobody knows where Arianna d'Este is" Cho Chang commented confused.

Draco already knew the answer to that question. He closed his eyes and imagined his happiest memory, something intense. Whispering the words of the spell, the silver butterfly appeared and everyone rolled their eyes in surprise. No one would ever expect a Death Eater to be able to summon a patronus. Draco felt uncomfortable seeing all those looks. For a moment the warmth of the place had seemed familiar, almost pleasant, but then he remembered that that wasn't his place, he remained a Slytherin anyway. He nodded coldly and left his seat. "I'll get you everything you need, as long as possible... But keep your mouth shut" he said, before leaving.

~~~

Ria had prostrated herself. Face in the dark mud of the forbidden forest, she pleaded with the centaurs to be heard. Her hands were empty and she showed herself unarmed to them, she came in peace. Her knees were sore, but she wouldn't make the mistake of getting up without first getting permission. Centaurs were proud creatures, she remembered.

"Get up, witch. We knew you were coming" one of them spoke and Arianna finally looked up. Around her a crowd of centaurs had gathered, observing her with pride, judging her by her audacity.

"I come to you in peace, but to call you to war!"

"It's an outrage!" one of them thundered and Ria stepped back, bowing her head in respect.

"Silence, Oratio! We will let her speak, because it was said of her, because it was written in the stars that she would come and speak, and shout justice in front of us. Speak, human" Cassander commented with a veil of contempt in his look.

Ria nodded, thanking him. "Your loved ones, your children, your mother earth, all of this is threatened today. Even the stars you love so much will be impossible to see if the sky is darkened by the black mark! Morsdmordem, you know it, you have already seen it. You have fought against the acromantulas, I can smell their poison still permeating the earth under your hooves. Maybe some of you have had the misfortune to meet the dementors, or to die at the hands of a Death Eater in your forest, the forest that is rightfully yours. Help me, protect Hogwarts and your life will be honored, your courage will be remembered. Protect Hogwarts and you will be rewarded." Arianna had spoken firmly, looking up at Cassander, the leader of the centaurs.

Thoughtful and grave looks were born on their faces, because they knew she was right. "How do we know you're not lying? What guarantees do we have, with you, human?" Conan replied scornfully.

Ria knelt again. "In the name of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, I swear to you that the Order of the Phoenix will honor your land and I speak on behalf of its members" Ria had to swear through gritted teeth. She hated that name, but if it could be useful she would use it to her advantage.

Cassander in front of her nodded. "Get up, woman, because we will fight with you!" he declared and as the creature rose on its hind legs, announcing the impending war, Ria was summoned by a faint light on her shoulder. A small luminous creature she had not seen coming, but whose pure and silver presence he now sensed. A butterfly, an unmistakable blue butterfly. It was already time to return to Hogwarts. But how to reach it?

~~~

"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour. It's came to my attention that earlier this evening Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade. Now... should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Mr Potter, they will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Furthermore, any person found to have knowledge of these events, who fails to come forward, will be treated as equally guilty. No one?" Severus spoke with a tired heart and an exhausted rage in his soul. He had had enough of that game. If he could, he would be gone, but it wasn't time yet. If he could, he would die. Arianna had disappeared. The last and perhaps the only true flash of light of his life had gone out. No one had ever heard from her again. She could be dead. Life made no sense and yet, he was not yet free to abandon it. Not yet. Hogwarts was silent: each student held his gaze in front of him, trembling with every step he took and avoiding meeting his eyes as black as the depths of hell.

"Looks like the school still has a serious security problem despite everything, Professor" Harry commented with an amused grin on his face.

Harry held the wand firmly in his hand, its tip pointing to the heart of the dark wizard in front of him, fearlessly, with determination and a kind of melancholy in his gaze. An exclamation of amazement rose in the heavy night air, and the doors of the Great Hall swung open, welcoming the Order of the Phoenix in its entirety! Severus, reticent, raised his wand and disarmed him. Expelliarmus. The spell that he himself had taught the boy, now thrown at him, not so much to strike, but enough to prevent him from starting a battle right at that moment, in that crowd of kids.

"Lower your hand, Severus" Lupin whispered. No one would have fought before the right time and by now, thanks to Arianna's confession to Harry, Ron and Hermione, the whole Order had learned of the reality of the facts. There was true repentance and shame in the werewolf's gaze. Everyone had betrayed him, for a lifetime, but now he deserved to be redeemed. The real problem was that the Carrows were still there, present and attentive behind the obscure headmaster, their wands clasped in their hands and their eyes full of hate. Words would have no effect.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment of truth is near and finally the reality of the facts is revealed and it is time to prepare for war.

_Bring me home in a blinding dream_   
_Through the secrets that I have seen_   
_Wash the sorrow from off my skin_   
_Show me how to be whole again_

**_Castle of Glass - Linkin Park_ **

Only those who see death in front of them and perceive its raw existence can understand the Thestrals. Controversial creatures, mostly unknown, often misunderstood. Ria had ceased to harbor prejudices. When, in the forbidden forest, she led the centaurs, leading them to the gates of Hogwarts and riding one of those dark winged and bony horses, followed by another pack of Thestrals, she felt that anything was possible. However, an enormous sense of oppression choked her heart when, among the branches of the forest that thinned out in front of her, Ria finally saw Hogwarts and realized that the castle was no longer as she remembered it. The golden light of the candles that warmed every place with their glow had gone out, the warm air of May evenings had turned into the icy breath of the dementors and the earth all around had become parched and dry, as if it too had sensed death approaching inexorably. The Whomping Willow was still and sad, asleep in a depressing torpor. Even the sirens in the Black Lake had become shy and silent. War was near, anyone could feel it in the air. Arianna prayed it wasn't too late.

~~~

In the Great Hall of Hogwarts Minerva had raised her wand at Snape. All the students had stepped aside and left the central corridor empty, awaiting the confrontation. The members of the Order remained petrified in their place, unable to discern truth from appearance. There was something deeply strange about all of that and what should he do to them but...

The large window behind the Carrows shattered! A dozen Thestrals swarmed into the hall, flying over the unsuspecting heads of those who couldn't see them. Harry, Ron and Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny and the entire Order of the Phoenix saw what kind of creatures had invaded Hogwarts. Everyone present saw that, in the end, Ria had survived. As if it were a battle cry, the young witch's startling entrance convinced Draco to act. As a symbol of the Slytherin revolt against that never-ending war, against those families who had condemned them to a life of violence and crime, against those who had never considered them worthy enough to be truly members of that school, Draco raised his wanded against the Carrows and attacked first, finally abandoning cowardice forever. Pansy Parkinson tried to cling to the boy's jacket, to somehow stop him. "What are you doing, Malfoy?!" she screamed, but her hand didn't have time to grab his sleeve because, behind her, Astoria Greengrass decided to get in the way and pulled that hateful girl's hair, and pulling out her wand to help Draco and petrifying the Carrows. Other Slytherins, loyal to their families, tried to escape, but the Order stopped them and they were trapped.

At the same time the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws cheered at Ria's entrance: the older ones pulled out their wands and pointed at Snape, enabling him to back away, but they didn't have time to act. Arianna rushed to Severus's aid, shielding him with her own body. "You'll have to kill me! Nobody will touch this man!"

Minerva rolled her eyes in painful surprise, but her disbelief was even greater when it was Harry who lowered the professor's hand. "Potter... What are you doing?" the professor asked, speechless.

"Professor Snape is innocent..." he whispered back, but when his gaze met the tired and battered, but determined Ria and he decided to raise his voice. "Professor Snape is innocent! All this time he has been deceiving Voldemort, and even Dumbledore's death was a hoax! Snape finished Dumbledore by order of Dumbledore himself..."

"Shut up, Potter, you don't know what you're saying!" Snape intervened, but Ria squeezed his hand tightly and he fell silent, for once.

Harry continued, "And he wouldn't have done that, had it not been to save Draco Malfoy's life. What Professor Snape didn't know was that..." the boy stopped. With a look full of compassion, he turned to the professor whom even he, for so long, had considered guilty. "Dumbledore had planned to give Voldemort the Elder Wand, his own wand, the most powerful in the world. The wand belongs to Professor Snape, as he disarmed me, and I disarmed Draco who was the first and only one to disarming Dumbledore... This, however, wasn't planned by the headmaster who... Well Dumbledore knew he had sentenced Snape to death, giving him the wand that Voldemort wanted and would have obtained by killing Professor Snape."

Severus, trembling, lowered his wand and his eyes filled with tears. Everybody fell silent. The members of the Order and all the students and professors turned their gaze to the couple in the middle of the great hall. Arianna turned slowly, finally looking him in the eye once more. Her lips quivered. "I'm sorry, my love" she whispered and, for a moment, when Severus hugged her, ignoring the whole world, the war seemed far away. Yet he knew that love would have to wait: wiping the tears from her cheeks, Severus looked up at the professors, the Order and all the students who now, finally, saw someone different in him.

"I want... All underage students, to be led away from school. All over seventeen students, belonging to any house, will be able to remain, aware of the risk commensurate with the gravity of the situation" Snape said, followed by Ria.  
"We won't be alone" she added, "at the gates of Hogwarts the centaurs have gathered to offer their help during the battle." Ria took Severus's face in her hands and smiled at him. "It's not over, not yet" she whispered with sincere affection and deep hope, then pulled her wand from the bag. Snape's eyes dried enough that he could see and he understood... All that time, a whole year! And she had saved his life, she had succeeded. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hold her tight and forget everything, but now was not the time. That was the time to fight. Severus took his wand and the light illuminated all of Hogwarts again!

While the Order of the Phoenix, along with Professor McGonagall, gathered the students, divided by house, Arianna joined Draco.  
"Professor... I..." he stammered, surprised by himself, and even more surprised when Ria took him and hugged him in her arms.

"I am very proud of you, my boy!" Ria exclaimed and Draco finally smiled. "But now, leave it to us. Go away, save yourself. It's not fair that you have to fight your family." The smile on Draco's gaze faded, but Arianna didn't give him time to think, she kissed his forehead and nodded. "The underage students, all along with Mr. Malfoy!" Arianna exclaimed, attracting attention, then turned back to the boy. "You're going to take all your comrades to safety, won't you? Take them to Hogsmead and make sure no one harms them. Go!"

Draco took the lead and walked towards the exit, calling everyone in a loud voice with an authoritarian way and, for a moment, all those present looked at her in amazement, because if something was sure, was that Arianna d'Este was really capable of great magic.

At that moment Voldemort's voice broke into their minds, demanding Harry's life in exchange for safety. Severus knew the time had come.

~~~

"We have little time, they will be here in less than an hour and we have to make sure the horcrux is destroyed" Arianna said, walking down the corridor alongside Severus. He nodded with a determined expression and his eyes fixed on him, focused as never before. The school was silent: on the other side of the building the Order of the Phoenix, headed by Kingsley, and Dumbledore's Army, led by Neville, knew exactly what to do, following the orders of Arianna and Severus.  
Snape stopped. His determination was so great that, in a flash, the door appeared in front of him and opened without him needing to push it: inside everything was at their mercy, they just had to find the right object.

"Dumbledore knew about the Horcruxes, and had guessed what they were. The Dark Lord's vanity prevented him from choosing common, more easily lost items. No, he superbly chose what could truly, somehow, preserve his soul with a certain royalty. That's why he chose the objects that belonged to the founders. One of them must be here" Severus commented. The Room of Requirements, the last bastion to be destroyed before confronting Voldemort and his army face to face.

"Why here?" Arianna asked doubtfully. Her gaze wandered among the myriad of collected objects, without fully understanding what it was or where that strange unknown room had appeared.

"The Room of Requirement always knows what you are looking for" Severus replied. Then he, lifting Elder wand, summoned the cursed fire, the ardemonium. The whole room burned, the doors closed and Severus squeezed his wand tightly as he called the powerful spell to him and stopped it. The horcrux would be destroyed in the fire, he was sure of it.

~~~

"You understand everything?" Kingsley asked Harry. The boy, exasperated and hopeless, nodded weakly. He watched the Forbidden Forest beyond the bridge and knew his fate would stop right there, in that dark and seemingly silent land. He turned one last time: Arthur had to hold his daughter tightly to his chest to prevent her from following the boy. Hermione was crying and had to cover her mouth with one hand to stop the loud sobs. Ron was shaking and visibly paled. Remus was the last to hug Harry: James's only son, the boy who had somehow been the son of all of them, James and Lily, as well as Sirius and his own. He wanted to do something to stop it, anything, but it was impossible. One last look at those he loved, one last, faint smile, then Harry walked towards his destiny.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle of Hogwarts: first part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Graphic descriptions of violence

_This is how I show my love._   
_I made it in my mind because_   
_I blame it on my ADD baby._   
_This is how an angel dies_   
_Blame it on my own sick pride_   
_Blame it on my ADD baby_

**_Sail - AWOLNATION_ **

Voldemort was marching towards Hogwarts, at the head of his army. Anger grew inside him: despite having finally killed Harry Potter he knew he still had to finish the destruction of Hogwarts and was aware that his strength was slowly running out. They had discovered his secret, what remained of his soul was deeply in danger. Nagini, between her legs, approached her master, unconsciously knowing she was protected. Bellatrix, to the right of the Dark Lord, had a quick and decisive step and was eager to start the war: there were several relatives she would have liked to have the pleasure of killing in the most cruel ways. Narcissa, her sister, and Lucius hadn't seen their son for some time now: their greatest terror had become having to find their only son dead in a war that, after all, it no longer made sense to win or lose. All the others, like faithful and obscure soldiers, moved behind their tyrant. Among them, a single pure soul moved, forcibly following the crowd: Hagrid, who after months of suffering and torture had been forced to see Harry die in front of him, Harry who had given himself up in the hope of saving as many lives as possible. He had never stopped crying as he held the boy in his arms, who years ago was nothing more than a little bundle as small as the palm of his hand. Behind him walked a giant, followed by a dark flock of soul-thirsty dementors. War was near. The dawn had not yet risen: the sky was dark, a terrible and oppressive gray, while the air was growing colder. The wooden bridge had caught fire as the snatchers crossed it, but Voldemort had ignored their cries of pain and let them fall. They were approaching the entrance courtyard, but everyone was silent. The stone porch, immersed in darkness, seemed deserted. Everything was silent. The Death Eaters wondered what was happening and if that was meant to be a taciturn surrender. They didn't notice anything until they were almost in front of the school doors.

On the roof, between the gothic spiers of the castle, still in the cold fog of the evening, while the mountains behind them still prevented the sun from rising, Ria hid with other students. Professor Flitwick, along with Snape, had chosen the best Defense Against the Dark Arts adult students and turned them over to Ria. Among them was also Luna Lovegood. Arianna knew the plan was risky, but the darkness was a great advantage and they should use it as much as possible. They were going straight to death, yet they weren't afraid, none of them had any fear. Somehow the awareness of victory and the determination of their souls were stronger.

"Luna" Ria whispered, calling the girl to her side and she commanded her black winged horse forward. All of them were the cavalry, the air force of that army: the Thestrals had relied on them and would lead them into the night air. "Did you understand? I need you to keep those dementors away, you will be visible and this is a huge risk," she said, but Luna smiled.

"Don't be afraid, Professor. Thestrals know where to go, they're intelligent creatures and you'd better not underestimate them."

Arianna nodded, clutched the heavy ax in her hands and made sure her bow was tightly attached to her back, along with the arrows. She was skilled in magic, but if she lost her wand she would have to find a way to always defend herself. The heavy wood of the halberd hilt was nothing compared to the adrenaline that made her heart thunder in her chest like an unstoppable drum: she would take care of the giant and she knew she would not fail. "Here we go."

They took off in silence, spreading their wings and gliding silently over that dark army. Ria raised her hand and Luna, followed by the others, quickly rushed towards the dementors, unleashing the first spell. The powerful light of the patronus spell caught the attention of everyone present! Harry, who was still in Hagrid's arms, knew that this wasn't the time: they had explained to him what the plan would be and, although no one had expected his survival, the boy knew that the right time to wake up from world of the dead would be the one in which they would finally open the door. He hoped to be able to survive that long.

Meanwhile, the Death Eaters began to attack the students riding the Thestrals, who retreated as they repelled the dementors. As Luna led her companions, Arianna managed to reach the giant and the creature was too clumsy and stupid to be able to notice her: Ria raised the ax and directed the sharp blade on the creature's neck. Clutching her thighs around her Thestral's body, Ria let herself be led and the blade slid down the giant's neck, slashing him in half and spilling the putrid blood on the acromantulae around his feet. The creature trembled, with a groan of pain it collapsed on its knees and then surrendered to death: the giant fell backwards, crushed some spiders and blocked the rear exit for the Death Eaters. There were two options left: to take flight and make yourself vulnerable to attacks from other wizards, or to open the doors and enter the castle, but the doors didn't open! It was there that everyone began to realize that the attack had just begun. Ria let go of the ax, letting the wooden handle snap to the ground and pulled out her wand. Lumos.

Between the columns of the dark portico, the centaurs hid. "The signal!" Cassander clanged and before the dark wizards could defend themselves, a myriad of arrows rained down on them, fired relentlessly. Those arrows had been forged in fire and silver, and simple protection spells could not stop their flight! The deadly spikes stabbed many enemies to death, but the most experienced and most faithful Death Eaters survived that attack too. As the weaker ones were left to face the centaurs, who now rode powerfully against them, passing the giant's corpse, the doors of Hogwarts opened and the scenery changed again.

~~~

"It has begun" Kingsley said. He and the other members of the Order would take care of the defense of the towers. Soon the Death Eaters would arrive and they would have to fight for their lives. The time of peace was over. "Whatever happens, don't leave your post! Remember, the castle is well protected and the number of Death Eaters will be more than halved soon! We can win, but we mustn't let them divide us!"  
Everyone nodded.

Remus was strangely silent. None of them had time to notice or deal with it, but Tonks knew that dark and sad thoughts were arising in his mind one after the other: inside him there was remorse for everything he had insinuated about Severus, for years, there was the fear of not seeing the son he had so long feared to embrace and whose greatest love he now cherished and there was the desire to save his young wife, who had been willing to risk her life with him, until the end. Above all, Remus prayed that Ria was right and that their plan worked: the greatest number of people would survive.

Meanwhile, inside the school, the teachers and the rest of the older students remained. Minerva McGonagall had lined up the Hogwarts statues, but she knew it wouldn't be enough.

"It will slow them down for a while!" Flitwick exclaimed, then firmly took out his wand. Neville nodded and remembered well what he, Dean and Seamus had to do: they would have to take care of the snake. They should have been able to lure Nagini, distract her and push her away from her master, only to be able to finish her off. Snape hadn't given them clear directions, but had given him the talking hat: "At the right time he will give you what you need" he had commented, with his contradictory look. The eyebrow had raised and for a moment Longbottom had exchanged a glance with the professor and it seemed to him he understood that, without words and without further excuses, both finally accepted and affirmed the value of the other, and wished each other good luck. Neville was also ready to fight.  
And when the professors managed to occupy the remaining Death Eaters, only then would Voldemort have to face the only wizard capable of destroying him: Severus Tobias Snape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if I am updating this fic with a delay compared to before, my study commitments are very demanding. I admit I have decided to change the conclusion of the story, so I need more time to write. I hope this battle can satisfy you. Being the fantasy I obviously decided to save our favorite characters: Remus, Tonks and Fred won't die here.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle of Hogwarts: second part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Graphic descriptions of violence  
> ⚠️Minor Character Death
> 
> Semoto (latin) = to reach  
> Occidere eum (latin) = kill him

_You will never see_  
_What's inside of me_  
_I pulled you under just to save myself_

**_Coming down - Five Fingers Death Punch_ **

Harry had to crawl among the corpses on the floor, between the blood of strangers and the dark dust filling his nostrils. The war continued around him and the boy knew he had to take his rightful place: fight, fight to the end, that's what he had to do. There, in the battle, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and everyone he loved would be involved. For Voldemort, the end must come. When Harry managed to get up inside the school, the scene that appeared before his eyes was terrible: Ginny, Hermione and Molly Weasley fighting together against Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron and Percy helping each other against a crowd of vampires seeking refuge within the walls of the school, knowing that the sun would soon rise high in the sky and Angelina Johnson and Oliver Wood were supporting each other, flying on brooms and disarming their opponents to help their mates. Neville, Dean and Seamus ran away, chased by Nagini and tried in vain to cast spells at the creature. At the top of the stairs, as they walked away into the school, Voldemort and Snape were fighting each other. The conflict flared up in his heart: what should he do? Harry knew that Snape might need help, but Ginny was risking her life every minute and he knew that, before anything else, he had to save her. Therefore, clutching his wand, Harry directed his first spell at Madame Lestrange. _Attacking a Death Eater from behind is infamous and risky_ , Harry thought and he was aware of it, but he was ready to take the risk. Harry cast the spell. Bellatrix fell to the ground, but in an attempt to get up, bewildered by the figure of Harry Potter still alive, still ready to fight, she paused for a moment. That second of hers was her undoing: Molly Weasley, when she noticed the dark witch's evil smile and her attempt to get up and grab Ginny, stopped her. "Not my daughter, you _bitch_!" and with the death spell she finished her. The battle had just begun.

~~~

Remus was fighting alongside Kingsley and Tonks, defending the upper floors of Hogwarts and facing off against the Death Eaters who had managed to escape the attack of the centaurs and Hogwarts statues. They were even in number, and although the eldest members of the Order were valiant fighters, the Death Eaters were experts in the Dark Arts. Remus was in trouble: in the last months, before the battle, he had abandoned the dangerous missions entrusted by the Order of the Phoenix to be able to stay by the side of his young wife and take care of her during her pregnancy. He had weakened and Tonks, who had recently given birth, wasn't ready for such a fight. Fred and George had their backs covered, but they were starting to tire. It was when Antonin Dolohov appeared that they were truly afraid. Tonks had to start dealing with him on her own, but he was more skilled and agile than her. The spells the Auror was casting at him were nothing, just tickling for him and he managed to dodge them all. Dora, on the other hand, had to avoid green flashes from all directions. Fred and George began to fight with her, three against one, but it wasn't enough, they couldn't get the better of the dark wizard.

Ria was still flying over the Thestral, helping the students fend off the dementors. They had managed to petrify Rodolphus Lestrange, who had crashed to the ground and like a statue of sand had crumbled into a thousand pieces, but it wasn't enough, the enemies were everywhere. In the chaos of battle, Tonks' cry of pain had been more than recognizable. Ria had turned and saw: her nemesis, the man who had attempted her life before anyone else, was now trying to steal her friend's. She got distracted. That was a serious mistake. The Thestral screamed, but she, with her eyes fixed on Dolohov and the anger in her heart, noticed nothing. At least until, with a desperate cry, Katie Bell threw herself on her with her black winged horse and pushed her away: only then did Ria notice the dementor who had tried to capture her and from whom Katie had just saved her. The Thestral, mortally wounded by the fall, breathed his last breath and Arianna, helpless, had to witness the dementor's kiss. Just as she had saved Katie's life, now Katie's life had been sacrificed for her and wouldn't be sacrificed in vain. With raging rage in her heart and burning eyes, Arianna raised her wand.

" _Semoto_ Nymphadora!" she screamed and the spell made her jump up to the tower inside which the comrades were fighting.

Antonin Dolohov became even more inflamed when he saw the object of his lust appear, the woman he had long tried to subdue and possess. He attempted to cast a dead spell, to get rid of the opponents, but Ria got in the way and was extremely fast. Nearly a year of wandering in England's most haunted and dangerous forests had made her a skilled duelist. Her disarm spell was accurate, Dolohov lost his wand. Ria smiled.

" _Sectumsempra_ " she whispered. The spell Severus had taught her was perfect, she would slowly kill him. She turned before Dolohov fell to the ground screaming in pain, writhing and bleeding; she made sure Tonks was okay and then told everyone to start rounding up the rest inside Hogwarts. The battle was drawing to a close, now Neville and Severus would need all the help they could get.

"What do we do with Dolohov?" George asked, but Arianna shook her head.

"There is no Dolohov here" she said, then with a determined step she led everyone into the school.

~~~

Severus protected himself from a new attack for the umpteenth time and dodged it towards a window, which shattered and threw a shower of glass down towards the courtyard. He and Voldemort, fighting valiantly for nearly an hour, were heading for the Astronomy Tower, the same one on which Albus Dumbledore had met his death.

"You are a great disappointment, Severus. I have been generous to you and how do you repay me? You could have had everything one could have" Voldemort commented with contempt. His Cruciatus curse failed again when Snape bounced it off his wand, but the Dark Lord managed to avoid it.

Severus didn't answer, he felt he had nothing more to say and nothing to justify. For both of his masters he had killed, lied, and pretended to be someone other than himself. He was exhausted. The fight continued.

Voldemort had never known fear, but now, in his heart, in what remained of his soul, although he tried to hide it, he knew that his fear of death had the name of Severus Snape. There was a dark light in his eyes that even in the early days of becoming a Death Eater the Dark Lord hadn't seen in him, an unbeatable anger and determination. Voldemort didn't understand and would never understand because not even for a second of his life he would ever be able to understand love. Love. That force that prevented Severus from feeling tiredness or pain. In his heart there was only Ria and the hope of finally being able to abandon the pain, the repressed anger and the bitterness to obtain the recognition that, after all those years, he was entitled to.

~~~

Ria ran. She was running towards the Astronomy Tower, followed by many others: the battle had come to an end. She was in front of everyone as Tonks, Remus, Fred and George, Arthur, Ginny and Harry tried to reach her, but it was impossible. She was faster than all of them. Climbing the stairs to Hogwarts, as they began to change direction, the young woman raised her wand in the air and uttered the _Carpe Retractum_ spell. Everyone was amazed and they couldn't do anything: Arianna jumped upstairs, reaching the seventh floor. There was only one quick way to get to the tower without having all the stairs and lacking a broomstick: jump on the roof.

Arianna reached the roof of the Ravenclaw tower, the closest to the Astronomy Tower. With bloodstained and scratched hands, she began shuffling up the building, reaching the edge closest to her target. There, tormented by the wind, frozen to the bone, with livid cheeks, one black eye and swollen lips, Arianna saw. Severus and Voldemort clashed in a deadly dance: like victory-hungry wolves they circled each other and attacked mercilessly. Severus was agile and elegant, but Voldemort was powerful and there was no denying his extraordinary command of dark magic. Arianna wanted to jump and reach Severus, but now she realized the risk and she couldn't allow it. She was short of time and had to think fast. Voldemort was sensitive to magic: if she cast a spell from there it would be weak and inaccurate, he would notice and dodge it. She would be discovered and risked hitting Severus; what Voldemort couldn't foresee was that Arianna didn't need magic to fight, not at all. Her bow was still anchored behind her and Ria, making sure she had her feet firmly on the roof sill, grabbed it with her right hand, while with her left she drew the arrow.

While Neville finally slit the cursed snake's throat and reduced it to nothing but dust, and while Severus held his wand tightly trying to resist with the last strength left, which was now abandoning him, and while Voldemort refused to surrender, morbidly attached to that life of death and pain to which he had dedicated himself, Arianna concentrated, seeking silence. The wind blew from the north east and carried the morning clouds away to Ireland. The air was humid, but there were still no flocks of birds flying. Voldemort gave her his shoulder, turned three-quarters towards Severus and between the two must have been about four or five meters apart. The margin of error was not allowed. She brought the tail of the arrow to her lips.

" _Occidere eum_ " she whispered. The arrow lit up and, letting herself be guided by her determination and instinct, Ria let go.

At half past five in the morning, at the first ray of sunshine coming from the shoulders of the high and cold Scottish mountains, as the first song of victory was raised among the centaurs in the schoolyard, Tom Marvolo Riddle, mortally wounded in the heart, fell from the Astronomy Tower and crashed to the ground decreeing the end of the war and the victory of Hogwarts.

Severus, from the top of the tower, looked up when Voldemort, in front of him, surrendered to the final death and, on the other side of the sky, with her face half lit by the first light of day, there was the love of his life and finally the future he had always dreamed of. Life had just begun.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus faces the war crimes trial, but when everything goes right he, Arianna and Draco can start the life they always wanted, but never thought they could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️Mention of minor Death characters
> 
> Domus Viridis Draconis (latin) = House of the Green Dragon

_Have you heard_   
_The silent scream_   
_Boys and girls_   
_Born to be free_   
_Love is our gasoline_   
_Livin' on this endless dream_

**_Kings of Suburbia - Tokyo Hotel_ **

_September 30, 1998_

Kingsley took his place again. The jury had deliberated. It was raining outside and the air was humid and annoying, but a crowd of reporters had gathered, eager to hear the verdict of the trial. The Ministry was judging the survivors of the war, again. After the last battle everything had been rebuilt from the beginning: Shakelbot had become the new Prime Minister of Magic and the whole Ministry had been revolutionized. By that time the wizarding world, weary of war, was opening its heart to the world and was traveling in the direction of an increasingly targeted inclusion of the Muggle world. Diagon Alley had been rebuilt, Gringotts had been searched from top to bottom and all seized assets had been donated to the rebuilding works, to the families of the victims and to Hogwarts, rebuilt from top to bottom. Harry Potter and Ronal Weasley had embarked on their Auror journey, Harry and Ginny had already decided that they would soon get married, following in the footsteps of their parents. On that day in late September, however, more relevant issues were being discussed: the jury had expressed the final verdict on the role of Severus Snape and on that of Albus Dumbledore.

Arianna had remained in her place, she hadn't been allowed to get close, but Severus had granted her an imperceptible smile. She trusted him. In all those months they had worked hard to build their future together: both, with their skills and their knowledge, had taken care of the wounded for a long time and to collect and catalog all the evidence necessary to reconstruct the whole story in court. The memories of the pensieve, the memories of Harry and Severus, those of her and all of her testimonies, were kept safe by Arianna. It was now well established that no one, more than she, was capable of protecting a secret. She had never been investigated, nor had war heroes, but Severus Snape's ambiguous role still left many confused. Draco sat next to her that day. His parents, unarmed, had died in the battle, attacked by the centaurs. Draco suffered because of it... he had always loved his parents, despite everything. However, he couldn't stop thinking about that fate to which they had tried to condemn him, their deep-seated disgust towards Arianna d'Este, the disapproval they would have felt for the role of his son in the battle. In time of need, Draco had been able to choose the right thing to do. He had called Ria with his patronum, thus saving Severus' life and ensuring Voldemort's death. Arianna had somehow adopted Draco. The boy was left alone in the world and she had kept him from rotting in his regret. After all, Severus was his godfather, and despite Draco being of age, he had duties to him. The boy shook her hand. "It'll be fine, Ria. You'll see" he whispered, perhaps more to himself than to her. Kingsley got the jury representative up.

"Has the jury made a decision?" asked the Minister.

"Yes, sir. The jury absolves Severus Tobias Snape of all charges and awards him the Order of Merlin, first class, in recognition of his commitment to the war against dark magic and as compensation for the damages he suffered. In the absence of effective evidence for the conviction of Albus Percival Wolfrick Brian Dumbledore for the premeditated attempted murder of Severus Tobias Snape the jury is unable to express a judgment, but in light of the events reported in court, the jury agrees to withdraw the Order of Merlin, first class, conferred to Professor Dumbledore and to leave the judgment suspended. The jury unanimously decides to give the Minister executive power of the judgment. Thank you."

Kingsley didn't have time to speak. Severus turned to the audience and extended his hand to Arianna who ran into his arms and kissed him. Snape had finally begun to savor the sweetness of his life and for no reason in the world would he have given up on those pleasures. Draco followed with a smirk on his lips, glad that justice had finally run its course. Severus was still an imposing man, indeed, since the war was over he was even more so. He had begun to eat with gusto, much more than he was used to, as if all the hunger of his life had hit him in a single moment. His shoulders seemed broader since he had stopped hiding under a long black cloak and started wearing more traditional clothing. His suit was a lighter blue: the shorter jacket covered his hips, but didn't close completely around the neck and showed the white collar of his shirt. His pants were slightly tighter and enhanced his figure. He walked with a firm step, offering Ria her arm, flaunting it as if she were the real trophy of his life, and it was so. Severus had never been more happy. He, Ria and Draco had now become part of the same family and were learning to live with a different warmth around them. Each of them had found what he was looking for.

Severus laced his fingers to Arianna's and, with a nod of his head, made her understand that he would have liked to avoid any interview. They had booked a portkey that would bring them home immediately and past the crowd of reporters they would leave to return to Malfoy Manor, where all three had moved permanently, but where everything was changing.

"Rita Skeeter is biting her hands in anger... I bet she couldn't wait to pillory us" Draco commented, staring at the crowd of screaming reporters behind them.

Severus laughed slightly. "I wonder what makes you think I'm willing to spend even a single minute of my time on... some cheap gossip."

"Notoriety is never bad, Severus" Arianna commented "and in your case it could play to your advantage... After all, Rita Skeeter knows it would be a real shame if the whole wizarding world discovered her nasty little secret, isn't that so? I will write her a letter as soon as we get home, I will invite her and I will grant the exclusivity, as long as she write what I want."

Severus laughed openly. "Oh good Merlin, my dear. You are such a snake."

Arianna's shop had been destroyed. Before the open battle came, her humble home in Knockturne Alley had been set on fire and destroyed. Severus's house in Spinner's End, left unattended for a long time, had suffered the harassment of time and rain for good and had fallen apart. Initially, Severus was desperate: that was the only thing he owned, the only thing he had left of his family and the only hope of starting a life with Ria, right after the war. Somehow both Harry and Draco had come to their aid. By interceding for them with the new Minister, Harry had ensured that Severus was given back the legacy of the Prince family, still firmly armored in Gringotts. Draco, on the other hand, had asked them not to leave him alone.

"I'm afraid, Arianna" he had confided to the young woman, shortly after the war. The funeral of his parents had been humble, silent, almost totally uninvited. Draco had decided to place them side by side, saying that his father wouldn't be able to survive even for a single day of his life without Narcissa. That day, it had rained. Malfoy Manor had seemed cleansed of the evil and horrors it had endured, but for Draco, the nightmares had not ended. "This house is so big and terrifying... I don't want to be here alone tonight. Stay, you and Severus. I beg you."

One night it turned into a week, then Draco needed help tidying up the room, cleaning the living room, re-lighting candles throughout the house, shopping for cheap but comfortable furniture. Severus had tried to support the boy, for Arianna's sake, and together they had rearranged the whole house. In the end Draco had confided to them what he really wanted him to do.

Two months had passed since the battle. Draco was surprised by the vicissitudes that followed the war. Earlier, Astoria Greengrass had knocked on his door: she had thanked him for what he had done during the battle. Draco had taken all the younger boys to Hogsmead, hid them and protected them from the dementors who, repelled by the battle, flew to the wizarding village. Among them was Daphne, Astoria's younger sister. The two kids had spent an afternoon in the garden, walking and smiling from time to time, and Draco had wondered why he had been with Pansy Parkinson for so long. It was only when, walking down Diangon Alley, together with Arianna, he noticed Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Seamus Finnegan, in a shop a little further on, while shaking hands with some stranger, that Draco realized he was a different person: the three guys noticed him. Neville met his gaze first and pointed it out to Luna. She raised her hand and greeted him, smiling. The others did the same. Draco nodded. None of them said anything, nobody needed to talk, they understood each other and, above all, Draco had decided that he wanted to do much more: being different, finally, made him feel good, made him feel like the person he always wanted to be, but that he didn't believe he could become.

"I want it to be a school" the boy confided to Ria and Severus one evening during dinner. "This house is huge for a few people, I assure you, and I don't know how to fill it anyway."  
Severus had held back from saying that soon he and Astoria would know how to fill it; Arianna shook his hand and convinced him to listen.  
"I don't want to compete with Hogwarts, but I would like to create a permanent school, a place where children of all ages can be accommodated, at any time of the year. No houses, no divisions or differences, just a place to feel... at home. A place for people like m ... Children of offenders, war orphans, kids who don't know where to go or who don't have families who can... show them the right way. I want them to find friends I haven't found and I want them to be able to do it here. This house contributed to so much horror, now I have a chance to fix it."

This is how the Domus Viridis Draconis was born: a shelter and study house for underage wizards and witches. Now, with the name of Severus finally cleansed of all accusations, they could finally start over. Not only that, but Severus had gained some notoriety after the war. While he wasn't the one who killed Voldemort (Arianna's heroic actions on that tower soon became a legend, someone had even implied that Ria was not entirely human, but that she hid dragon wings inside her jacket), he still fought valiantly and, more importantly, he had contributed enormously to the assistance to the wounded. Ria had given him her contribution. They had used the needle that Ottavian had given her. It had been painful, but on a subsequent visit to St. Mungo's they had assured her that, for a young and healthy woman like her, it would be easy to conceive, moreover that Severus was a powerful wizard and this wasn't to be ignored. After that, Severus gifted St. Mungo with the prodigious instrument and the new blood curse ward was named after him. Astoria Greengrass wept for joy, squeezing Snape's hand and thanking him for finding a cure for her disease.

Once they got home, Draco didn't let go of his jacket. "Well, I think I'll go back to Hogsmead. I have to meet some… um, I guess, I mean I know I have things to do and…"

Arianna laughed. "Draco, my boy, why don't you invite Astoria to dinner? If you prefer, you two can have dinner together and spend some time at… um, play the piano upstairs?"

Draco blushed and Severus smiled mischievously.

"How do you know?"

"Legilimacy, Draco. Or the dozens of letters your owl delivers every morning, who knows?" Severus replied and Draco, flushed, nodded, but smiled. When the boy had left the corridor again, Arianna threw her arms around Severus' neck and kissed him passionately. He reciprocated with the same vigor. "Atta, woman. You're playing with fire" he whispered into her ear and his voice was sin.

Ria meowed. "Oh, but I like to get burnt."

Severus laughed. He took her hand and led her to the living room. "Everything at the right time. Now I need you to have a little patience." Severus lit the fire and, gently placing his hand on her back, led her in front of the fireplace, warm. "I told you I would wait for the end of everything. I told you that I would get my rightful inheritance and the Order of Merlin and then, I told you that I would marry you. That day has come." He pulled a black box from his pocket and knelt in front of Ria, whose eyes were already filled with tears of joy. The box opened and inside was a single ring, a serpentine spiral in platinum: set in the eyes of the snake were two small brilliant emeralds. "Marry me, Arianna. I love you."

Arianna nodded and threw herself into her arms. Severus hugged Ria in her arms and smiled. She was crying with joy. Everything was finally perfect... The life they both had long wanted was no longer a mirage, but it was concrete and realized, ready to blossom into something wonderful. Their home and their future would allow them to redeem themselves. Severus was a free man and he wanted to live as such, enjoying every moment and without fear. Sometimes it was still difficult, when on moonless nights he woke up with a start, tired and sweaty, in horror, but her warm hand brought him back to reality, with his feet on the ground and his mind steady. For her it was worth it: the pain was a memory. Severus squeezed her hips and accompanied her to the carpet: together, in front of the fire, they began to kiss. His hands found her thick dark hair, and squeezed it passionately. Ria groaned at her, reclining her neck and offering him the most intimate parts of her skin. Severus liked to immerse her face in such beauty, savor every inch of that fascinating body and quench his lust on her lips: there was nothing sweeter in the world. Arianna began to undo the buttons of her dress, but Severus moved her hands. "I'll take care of this... I want to undress you, every damn day. My gods, there isn't a single part of you that doesn't drive me crazy..." with these words, he opened the buttons of the dress with a violent gesture and admired with a hungry gaze the naked body of his young lover. He sank his lips to her breasts and Ria surrendered to her intense pleasure.

They were naked shortly after. Both hot and sweaty in front of the fire, united in an infinite embrace. Severus growled with each thrust of his hips, kneeling behind her: his hard and hot cock penetrated her soft and tight pussy, not all the way, but arriving right there, in that point of infinite pleasure that made Ria tremble between his arms. The young woman was as lost as he was: a hand of Severus squeezed her neck, crossing her chest with the arm, between her breasts and she was strong and powerful, he squeezed her to keep her still there, not to let her escape from that pleasure so much intense enough to die. His other arm encircled her waist and caressed her gently. He was fire and water together, he was the universe upon her, he was all human desire and she couldn't ask for better. Her voice was reduced to a few muffled moans, but that was perfect. Everything around them was silent except for the crackling of the flames in the fireplace.

"Oh, _fuck_... I'm gonna come... _Arianna_..."

"Severus... _Yes_!"

Together they reached orgasm. His semen filled her with hot gushes, stuffed her all the way through, was greeted by that perfect pussy that tightened around him. Soon his flabby cock came out and they both fell naked and happy on the carpet in front of the fire. Severus, lying prone, listened to Ria's deep breath, while she was still under the influence of their intense love.

"You realize I could get pregnant, right?" she whispered. Severus smiled imperceptibly... Yes he knew. Ria had used the magic needle at St Mungo's. The curse was gone, destroyed by the magic needle. It had been painful for a few days, but it had worked. Arianna could have gotten pregnant, Severus knew it and was impatient. He had waited all his life to start living and now he would get it all. He opened his eyes and Arianna smiled. They were happy, for real.


	30. Chapter 30

The story ends here. I thank all of you readers who have followed me up to here. I do not exclude the possibility of adding new stories related to these, I never exclude this possibility for any of my stories. But for now this is the end. Obviously I do not own any of this and I make no money from this. 

Let me know what you think! Let me know if you liked it and if you want more details about the fanfiction subplots. Thank you for all the kudos, all the comments and all the support.

⚠️Soon I would like to add an aestethic to this story. Considering the number of fanfictions I have published so far, I am considering the possibility of opening an **IG or TikTok profile** for **DionysusLover** and publishing aestethic for all the stories and characters we all love and maybe collect some headcanons for future oneshots and drabbles. What do you think? **Let me know!**


	31. Chapter 31

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Multifandom blog (HP, SW, Joker & much more), headcanons & aestethics

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